Medicine in modern Britain, c.1900-present - EdexcelCase study - lung cancer in the 21st century

Lung cancer is one of the most common cancers in Britain, killing thousands every year. As a result, the government and the National Health Service (NHS) work to try to ensure it can be diagnosed, prevented and treated effectively.

Smoking and lung cancer

Medical evidence suggests that cigarette smoking is the main cause of lung cancer. In some cases, lung cancer is a result of passive smoking, where people have inhaled the smoke from other people’s cigarettes.

However until the mid-20th century, when attitudes started to change, smoking was incredibly common and very few people would have regarded it as a dangerous activity. Indeed, smoking was even allowed in doctors’ surgeries and many medical professionals smoked. During World War Two, cigarettes were provided as part of a soldier’s rations.

Diagnosis and prevention

Lung cancer is very difficult to diagnose in its early stages. More advanced lung cancer can be diagnosed using CT scans. As a result, the government tries to educate people about the dangers and prevent the disease in the first place. It does this in various ways:

• Anti-smoking campaigns warn people of the dangers of smoking. For example, you can see very graphic warnings and photographs of damage and disease caused by smoking on cigarette packaging.
• Advertising campaigns highlight the symptoms of lung cancer. There are regularly adverts on television that do this.
• Advertisements for cigarettes have been banned. Previously, tobacco companies even sponsored sporting events.
• Laws have been passed that have raised the legal age of buying tobacco from 16 to 18. Since the early 21st century, smoking has been banned in public places.

Treatments

Treatments for lung cancer have progressed throughout the 20th and early 21st centuries following advances in science and technology and government funding. Currently, some of the treatments for lung cancer include:

• Radiotherapy - radiation is used to attack and kill the cancer cells.
• Chemotherapy - powerful chemicals are used to attack and kill the cancer cells.
• Immunotherapy - the patient’s immune system is boosted using this treatment so that it can attack and kill the cancer cells.
• Transplant - damaged lungs are replaced with lungs from an organ donor.

Medical research into the causes, diagnosis, prevention and treatment of lung cancer continues today. Further advances in scientific knowledge and technology will lead to improved understanding and more treatments.