Precision robotic biopsy, rapid diagnosis, and — if needed — lung-sparing surgery. No months of anxious waiting. One integrated private service, available within days.
Last reviewed: April 2026 · Dr Lawrence Okiror FRCS(CTh) FRCSEd(CTh)
The NHS Lung Cancer Screening Programme — delivered through targeted lung health checks to current and former smokers aged 55–74 — has fundamentally changed who is arriving in thoracic surgical clinics. Five years of programme data, published in Nature Medicine (March 2026), show that over 75% of screen-detected lung cancers are now found at Stage I or II — compared to fewer than 30% outside of screening.
This is genuinely important. Early-stage lung cancer is highly treatable. The surgery is less complex, recovery faster, and the chance of long-term survival dramatically greater. For patients in London undergoing lung cancer screening or targeted lung health checks, a positive result demands rapid, expert assessment — not weeks of uncertainty.
But the programme creates two new pressures. Around 15 in every 100 people scanned have lung nodules. Most are benign — but the NHS surveillance pathway typically involves a repeat scan weeks or months later, with no clear answer in the interim. For patients told they may have something on their lung, the wait is often the hardest part — living with uncertainty, with no clear answer.
And for those confirmed to need surgery: the National Lung Cancer Audit 2026 found that 88% of patients with early-stage lung cancer waited longer than the recommended 49 days from referral to surgery — a direct consequence of screening-generated demand outpacing NHS surgical capacity.
What the data shows
7,193
Lung cancers diagnosed
through screening to date
+20%
Rise in lung resections
in England in 2024 alone
88%
Early-stage patients waiting
beyond recommended 49 days
Sources: Lee et al., Nature Medicine, 23 March 2026; National Lung Cancer Audit State of the Nation Report 2026 (NATCAN).
This is precisely where a specialist-led private pathway becomes valuable — not to replace the NHS, but to provide clarity and, where needed, timely intervention when uncertainty or delay is no longer acceptable.
A pulmonary nodule is a small, rounded area of tissue — typically less than 3cm — that appears as a white spot on a CT scan. It is one of the most common incidental findings in modern imaging, often discovered when scanning for something else entirely: a back injury, a cardiac check-up, a chest infection.
The reassuring truth is that the vast majority of lung nodules are entirely benign — traces of old infections, scar tissue, or small harmless growths. Only a small proportion represent early-stage lung cancer.
The challenge is that a single scan cannot always tell the difference with certainty. The most important question is not simply "is this cancer?" — it is "has this been properly assessed by the right specialist, as quickly as possible?"
For decades, the standard approach to a suspicious lung nodule was surveillance: repeat CT scans at three, six, and twelve-month intervals, monitoring for growth. If the nodule grew, further investigation would follow.
This approach remains appropriate for genuinely low-risk nodules. But for those that warrant real concern — the right size, the right density, the right risk profile — months of repeat scanning can delay a diagnosis that could be made today. By the time growth confirms malignancy, the optimal treatment window may have narrowed.
The ION robotic bronchoscopy system changes that equation. We can now go directly to the nodule, biopsy it with precision, and have an answer — often within days of the procedure.
Designed to move quickly, spare lung tissue, and extend curative surgery to patients who might otherwise be told they cannot have it.
Rapid Specialist Assessment — in person, by Dr Okiror
Your CT scan is reviewed in detail — not just the report — alongside your clinical history, smoking background, and risk profile. Every scan is reviewed personally. You leave your first appointment with a clear plan. New patients are typically seen within 2–3 days.
ION Robotic Bronchoscopy & Biopsy
Using the ION endoluminal system — available at London Bridge Hospital, the first centre in Europe to offer it in routine clinical practice outside NHS research trials — an ultra-thin, robotic-guided catheter navigates deep into the lung, precisely to the nodule. A cone-beam CT scan confirms exact position before the sample is taken. A day case under general anaesthetic; most patients are home within hours. A small fluorescent dye marker is placed at the nodule site for surgical guidance if needed.
Learn more about ION bronchoscopy for lung shadows and nodules →Rapid Results & Certainty
If the biopsy confirms the nodule is benign, you have a definitive answer — without months of repeat scanning. If cancer is confirmed, treatment begins immediately rather than waiting weeks for the next referral in a chain. In most cases, you leave with a clear decision.
Lung-Sparing Robotic Surgery
Because these cancers are found small — at their earliest stage — surgery can be precisely targeted. The da Vinci robotic system's infrared camera detects the fluorescent dye marker, guiding the resection to the exact site. For very small tumours, this enables a segmentectomy — removing one segment rather than an entire lobe. A thorough cancer operation that preserves as much healthy lung as possible, reducing long-term breathlessness and keeping surgery an option for patients with emphysema, COPD, or pulmonary fibrosis.
When lung cancer surgery was first established, removing an entire lobe was the standard operation. Lobectomy remains an excellent operation and for many patients remains the right choice. But for small, early-stage tumours found through precision surveillance, a segmentectomy — removing one anatomical segment — can achieve equally good cancer control while preserving significantly more lung tissue.
For most patients this means less breathlessness, better exercise tolerance, and a faster return to normal life. For patients with emphysema, COPD, or lung scarring, it may mean the difference between surgery being possible at all.
This is not straightforward surgery. It requires both the precision tools — robotic surgery, infrared dye guidance — and the high-volume experience to use them well. At GSTT, 57.8% of lung cancer operations are performed robotically, more than double the national average of 24%.
FRCS (CTh) — Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of England
FRCSEd (CTh) — Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh
Consultant Thoracic Surgeon, Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust — performing approximately 9% of all lung cancer surgery in the UK and Ireland, with an operative survival rate of 99.16% against a national average of 98.5% (SCTS National Audit 2023–24)
UK’s largest robotic thoracic surgery centre — 57.8% of lung cancer operations performed robotically, more than double the national rate of 24%. Only 6% wedge resections vs 14% nationally
RCSEd Cardiothoracic Surgery Robotics Advisory Panel — Lead. Sets national guidance on robotic surgery in thoracic practice
Examiner — UK Intercollegiate Board in Cardiothoracic Surgery & European Board of Cardiothoracic Surgery
Over 30 peer-reviewed publications, book chapters and national research awards in minimally invasive lung cancer surgery and robotic technique
GSTT Outcomes — SCTS National Audit 2023–24
99.16%
Operative survival rate
vs 98.5% national avg
57.8%
Operations robotic
vs 24% nationally
6%
Wedge resections
vs 14% nationally
Figures relate to Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, 2023–24. Operative survival = perioperative survival from lung resection surgery, not long-term cancer survival.
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