“Thanks to my cancer screening, I was there for my granddaughter’s first day of school” - David’s experience

Retired milkman David Sutcliffe from Leeds had always lived an active lifestyle. From his twenties, he frequently played golf, cycled and hiked with his friends in the Yorkshire Dales.

After joining the Leeds City Athletic Club in 1995, David went on to complete ten London Marathons and ten Great North Run half marathons. In the 1980s, he climbed the Yorkshire Three Peaks and the Three Peaks of England. A few years later he cycled 130 miles, coast to coast from Workington to Tynemouth.

Despite leading a physically active life, like many men at that time, David had smoked from his teenage years up until his early forties. In July 2019, he received an invitation to have a chest scan as part of the Leeds Lung Health Check, a pioneering lung screening trial funded by Yorkshire Cancer Research.

The Leeds Lung Health Check clinical trial involved a mobile screening unit visiting convenient community locations such as supermarket car parks to make it easier for people to attend. People at higher risk of lung cancer and other smoking-related illnesses, including those who no longer smoked, were invited to have a CT scan of their chest on the unit.

David said: “I used to smoke but quit as I got more committed to running. I assumed I was fit and healthy but still took up the chance to have a chest scan. The first scan I had was thankfully clear.”

David went back for a second scan in August 2021, which extended to the lower abdominal region to check for kidney cancer, and then again, for a third time in July 2022.

Following a further scan, David was fast-tracked to the Leeds Chest Clinic for a consultation. There was still some doubt as to whether the growth was cancerous as it was too small at that stage for a biopsy, so he was given two options.

“I could either wait a year to see how the nodule developed, or have it removed along with a small section of my lung via keyhole surgery. The latter option seemed like the safest bet, and my surgeon agreed. That decision could have saved my life.”

Two months later, David had the surgery to remove the nodule which lasted just over an hour. After spending two nights at St James’ Hospital in Leeds, he was discharged and went on to make a quick recovery.

In Yorkshire, 7 in 10 lung cancers are diagnosed at stage 3 or 4. This is because lung cancer is often asymptomatic at an early stage. Screening is vital for detecting lung cancer at the earliest possible opportunity, when it is often easier to treat, and survival rates are higher. 

In December 2022, David’s respiratory surgeon confirmed the nodule had in fact been stage one lung cancer. However, the surgery had been a success and fortunately, there was no spread of cancer in the lymph nodes. David was cancer-free. 

He is now happily retired and back to hiking, cycling, golfing and fishing, but his favourite hobby of all is spending time with his young grandchildren.

The Leeds Lung Health Check has screened over 8,800 people and detected 400 lung cancers since 2018. The trial came to an end in November 2024, But the trial provided crucial data and evidence to help inform the national lung screening programme, set to be fully rolled out across the country by 2030.