There are only five PET scanners on the NHS in England and Wales

Charities including the British Lung Foundation are urging the government to provide more so-called PET scanners, which spot tumours easily.

There are only five such scanners in NHS hospitals in England and Wales, but 80 in Germany and 160 in the US.

Ministers say it is up to local health authorities to choose to buy the kit, which costs millions of pounds.

Lung cancer kills about 1.3 million people worldwide each year, more than any other cancer.

It needs to be spotted quickly, as it is difficult to treat and survival rates are low.

PET (positron emission tomography) scanners produce 3-D images to either detect disease, or to find out how widespread a disease is in a patient's body.

I had to wait around eight weeks for my PET scan and a three-hour journey each way to check whether my lung cancer operation was successful Patient Dennis Stowell

Former leading surgeon Jules Dussek said: "I have been PET scanning every lung cancer patient coming to surgery for 10 years, the longest experience of anyone in the UK and almost anywhere.

"I would be very unhappy if I would be forced to operate on someone with lung cancer without a PET scan. I would feel naked and defenceless."

Dennis Stowell, from Taunton, Somerset, had to travel to London for his PET scan.

"We really need to spread them all over the country.

"I had to wait around eight weeks for my PET scan and a three-hour journey each way to check whether my lung cancer operation was successful," he said.

Dr Jesme Baird, of the Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation, says lung cancer does not receive the same attention as other cancers and diseases because it is stigmatised by its association with tobacco.

LUNG CANCER - THE FACTS Kills 1.3m people worldwide each year About 38,000 new cases diagnosed in UK each year 80% of UK sufferers die within a year of diagnosis Only six out of 100 UK sufferers survive the disease

She also says patients do not survive long enough to make a stand about better research and treatments.

She told BBC Breakfast: "If we can pick up this disease early we know we can cure people, so what we really need to be doing is investing in raising awareness and investing in better techniques for diagnosing the disease. We will improve outcomes for this disease if we do that.

"If you're diagnosed with lung cancer you want to make sure that treatments and services are available for you so that you have the best chance of survival.

"What we're saying today is that there really needs to be more investment in terms of research and treatment so that we have something to offer these patients."

'Self-inflicted'

Charities including Macmillan Cancer Relief, the British Lung Foundation and CancerBACUP have joined forces to call for more PET scanners to be provided

They urged the government to set out a strategy to make sure at least 15 PET scanners were available across England and Wales within five years.

In the meantime, the government is still spending millions of pounds reinforcing the anti-smoking message.

Ministers say that while treatment is important, the focus must also be on preventing the 38,000 new cases of lung cancer each year.

But some doctors feel that because some see lung cancer brought on by smoking as a self-inflicted disease, it is missing out on funding.

Government response

Professor Mike Richards, the government's cancer czar, told the BBC the government was determined to prevent lung cancer through boosting smoking cessation programmes, and to improve services for patients who have developed symptoms.

He said as yet there was no conclusive proof that widespread early screening was necessarily an effective use of resources.

But he said: "We are developing a framework for PET scanning in this country, looking at how many scanners we really need, and also where they should best be located so that patients can have access to PET scanning."

Professor Richards also said an expert group to advise on the best way forward was to be established.