Test for lung cancer risk

A simple test found to help identify smokers at increased risk of developing lung cancer should be routinely available through general practitioners, researchers say.

A study by the University of Auckland and Auckland Hospital has found smokers with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD, known as smoker's lung) were six times more likely to get lung cancer than smokers without the disease.

The researchers believed smokers should be routinely screened for COPD through spirometry, a simple breathing test.

"By identifying smokers with reduced lung function (or COPD), people at greater risk of lung cancer can be identified at a time when quitting smoking can still significantly reduce their risk," lead researcher Associate Professor Robert Young of Auckland University said.

More than half of all New Zealand smokers with an increased likelihood of lung cancer had never had a spirometry test and were unaware of their elevated risk, Dr Young said.

"This is not really acceptable, as nearly all patients with lung cancer express feelings of guilt or regret that they smoked and wished they had given up sooner."

Being diagnosed with COPD and knowing they had an increased risk of lung cancer would help smokers quit, he said.

- NZPA