Never-smoking lung cancer with Professor Matt Evison and patient Sally Hayton: Overcoming barriers to early detection in symptomatic lung cancer patients

One in Two

In the latest episode of One in Two: A Manchester Cancer Research Podcast, we speak to Professor Matt Evison, Professor of Thoracic oncology, and never-smoker ALK+ lung cancer patient, Sally Hayton about:

· Never-smoker lung cancer symptoms, demographics, and occurrence

· Sally’s experience of receiving her lung cancer diagnosis and the barriers she faced in accessing treatment

· Overcoming barriers to early detection in symptomatic lung cancer patients

· The Manchester self-referral chest x-ray service and how it is helping in the diagnosis of symptomatic lung cancer patients

Show notes:

Professor Matt Evison’s profile: https://mft.nhs.uk/wythenshawe/consultants/dr-matthew-evison/

Non-small cell lung cancer information from Macmillan:

https://www.macmillan.org.uk/cancer-information-and-support/lung-cancer/non-small-cell-lung-cancer

The ALK project: A real-work national network and database:

https://christie.openrepository.com/handle/10541/623693

ALK Positive UK: https://www.alkpositive.org.uk/

ALK Positive Org: https://www.alkpositive.org/what-is-alk

EGFR Positive UK: https://www.egfrpositive.org.uk/

EGFR Registers: https://egfrcancer.org/

Ruth Strauss Foundation: https://ruthstraussfoundation.com/

Rankin shoots campaign to raise awareness of lung cancer in people who have never smoked: https://lbbonline.com/news/rankin-shoots-campaign-to-raise-awareness-of-lung-cancer-in-people-whove-never-smoked

The ROS1ders: https://www.theros1ders.org/

Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation: https://roycastle.org/

Speaker profiles:

Professor Matt Evison

Professor Matthew Evison MD MRCP (Respiratory Medicine) MBChB qualified from Manchester University Medical School in 2004. He undertook specialist training in Respiratory Medicine in 2008-2014 including a two-year fellowship in Thoracic Oncology at Wythenshawe Hospital, Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust, completing an MD degree in lung cancer diagnostics. He was appointed as a Consultant in Respiratory Medicine (Thoracic Oncology) at Wythenshawe Hospital in 2014. He was clinical Director for Lung Cancer for Greater Manchester Cancer from 2017-2023 and Appointed as Associate Medical Director for the Greater Manchester Cancer Alliance in 2023. Matt is the Clinical Lead for the Greater Manchester regional tobacco control programme ‘Making Smoking History’. He is a member of the British Thoracic Society Lung Cancer & Mesothelioma Specialist Advisory Group (SAG) & Member of the British Thoracic Oncology Group Steering Committee. He is also MASHC Honorary Clinical Chair, Faculty of Biology, Medicine & Health, The University of Manchester.

Sally Hayton

Patient Sally Hayton lives with Frank her partner. She has lived most of her life in Greater Manchester.

Sally is a never smoker and was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer in 2013 and biomarker testing showed an ALK mutation. She is now being treated at The Christie Hospital.

She has always worked in the public sector. After leaving school she trained and worked as an occupational therapist (OT). She then had a career change and worked within NHS Personnel for several years before realising that she wanted to return to her OT career. She has worked within both the NHS and social care, both of which she enjoyed.

She is a member of Greater Manchester Cancer Alliance Patient Voices’ and believes it is very important to raise awareness of never smoker lung cancer so that people are diagnosed at earlier stages and have access to the best treatment.

Quote

“The profile of lung cancer is changing, so I saw it as people who smoked a packet of cigarettes a day for 20, 30 years and then they got to their 70s and 80s and then were diagnosed with stage four lung cancer; that was my rough perception I had in my head. Then now, having been diagnosed with lung cancer and not fitting that group, I realise that never smokers are a totally different group of people. The youngest person I have met with lung cancer was 17 years old. People in their 20s and 30s are also being diagnosed so you can see the profile for never-smoker lung cancer is very different.” ~ Patient Sally Hayton