Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the implications for its policies of the results of the NELSON trial on low dose CT screening for current and former smokers; and if he will make a statement.

The United Kingdom National Screening Committee (UK NSC) has begun to update the recommendation on screening for lung cancer following the publication of the NELSON trial. A search for new published peer reviewed literature since 2007, the date of last review, will be undertaken, with data from the NELSON trial forming part of the evidence base.

The UK NSC will then host a three-month consultation, expected to open in autumn 2021. The UK NSC will then review the evidence, alongside comments submitted and make a recommendation on whether population screening for lung cancer should be introduced.