By Amanda Keenan
A woman says AI saved her life after a lung cancer x-ray.
Liz Couser, 76, was referred for a scan by her GP after experiencing unusual chest pain.
The pensioner was then able to take part in an AI-assisted pilot scheme at the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Paisley, which quickly spotted the disease.
For Liz, the diagnosis proved pivotal, as she had displayed no typical symptoms.
She said: “The only symptom I had was pain in my chest, and I just thought it was muscular or perhaps cardiac related.
“Lung cancer never crossed my mind as I had none of the symptoms associated with it, such as a regular cough.
“It just so happened when I was sent for an X-ray, the AI pilot scheme was taking place.
“It basically flagged the tumour straight away and then I was sent for a CT and PET scan, where radiographers were then able to clearly see the cancer on my left lung.”
Liz says she hopes others can benefit from the roll out of the AI technology.
She added: “There’s no doubt that AI helped to save my life.
“Instead of waiting weeks and weeks for screening, this picked up on the tumour straight away.
“Early detection with cancer is key and I’ve been very lucky that mine was caught early.”
Liz, from Johnstone, underwent robotic surgery to remove the 4cm tumour, along with the top half of her left lung, at the Golden Jubilee hospital in Clydebank.
She added: “I was determined to do everything to aid my recovery and was up walking around the ward the day after my operation.
“The cancer was caught quickly, and I was told there was no spread to my lymph nodes, which meant I didn’t need chemotherapy.”
She remains cancer free and is closely monitored now with regular scans.
Liz, who also supporting the Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation, hopes sharing her story will encourage others to get checked out if something doesn’t feel right.
She added: “If I hadn’t gone to my GP when I did things could have been a lot worse. I might not be here and that’s scary to think about.
“I always say to people you know your own body and if something isn’t quite right, don’t delay getting checked out.
“Early diagnosis saves lives and opens more treatment options to fight cancer.”
Her story comes as the Less Survivable Cancers Taskforce (LSCT) has revealed alarming findings highlighting a critical lack of research funding for common but less survivable cancers.
This stark imbalance is contributing to extremely poor outcomes for patients.
Information, obtained from a series of Freedom of Information requests, shows that research into illnesses in the brain, liver, lung, esophagus, pancreas or stomach – receives less than one-fifth of all government-funded cancer research, despite them accounting for nearly 40 per cent of all deaths.
As part of Less Survivable Cancers Awareness Week, the taskforce is calling on the Scottish Government to recognize the scale of this challenge.
Lorraine Dallas, chair of the Less Survivable Cancers Taskforce Scotland group, said: “Scotland has played a leading role in pioneering initiatives to support earlier diagnosis and improved surveillance, but we have the potential, and vital need, to do so much more.
“We want the Scottish Government to commit to addressing the research gap and ensuring that all patients, regardless of cancer type, have the best possible chance of survival.”
