A comprehensive audit showed that the number of lung cancer patients who have undergone lung cancer surgery in the United Kingdom has increased by twofold over the last five years.

The National Lung Cancer Audit 2010 revealed that one in seven patients, or nearly 4,500 people each year, have chosen to remove tumours through surgery. This is in comparison to the gathered data five years ago that showed only one in eleven patients go through surgical procedures to treat the condition.

Lung cancer is the most common cause of cancer deaths in the United Kingdom. It is usually detected at an advanced stage leading to nearly three-fourths of patients not fit for surgery.

However, the increased rate of lung cancer surgeries suggests that experts have acquired better surgical knowledge and have gained more access to complicated surgical techniques, which could offer more surgical options to borderline cases.

Dr. Mick Peake, NHS Cancer Improvement and National Cancer Intelligence Network clinical lead, said that there was apparent evidence that the standards of care are improving. He even claimed that the audit process was one of the major factors behind the improvement of care.

Yet, he said that there are still differences in the standard of care offered among various hospitals. However, he said to continue doing their best so that such standard of care is given to all patients in all units.

Meanwhile, chief executive Dr. Rosemary Gillespie of The Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation said that they would like to see an improvement on survival rates, which remain low until now.