Lung cancer treatment could begin a month earlier for many patients when a new service gets off the ground.

An appeal has been launch to create London’s first one-stop NHS lung cancer diagnostic service at the Royal Free Hospital.

A fifth of respiratory patients have fluid in their chest cavity, and to determine whether this is a symptom of cancer, patients are currently referred for a lung biopsy to specialist surgical centres.

Patients wait on average between two and four weeks for the procedure. It is undertaken under general anaesthesia and requires an overnight hospital stay.

The Royal Free Charity is fundraising to introduce London’s first thoracoscopy service at the hospital. For patients with a fluid-filled lung cavity, it will mean they will get their symptoms treated at the same time as having a biopsy. That could see patients starting cancer treatment up to four weeks earlier.

Dr Anant Patel, consultant respiratory physician, Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust, said: “Medical thoracoscopy is the means by which we can have a direct look inside the chest cavity, the space that’s outside the lung but inside the rib cage. This is a space that’s affected by many cancers and some benign diseases as well, in particular lung cancer.

“Having access to this space and being able to take the fluid away will relieve breathlessness while taking bigger biopsies will reduce the need for patients to have further onward, repeat biopsies."

It is one of three cancer improvement projects the Royal Free Charity is raising money for this winter.

The charity is supporting work to expand a digital mammography service to Barnet Hospital, as well as to use virtual reality to improve the experience of cancer patients receiving chemotherapy at Chase Farm Hospital and Finchley Memorial Hospital. Patients would have immersive experiences to choose from, incuding meditative apps and action games.

Jon Spiers, Royal Free Charity chief executive, said that having helped the trust address needs around Covid-19, the charity's attention is turning to cancer.

“We want to fund projects that will speed up diagnoses for lung and breast cancer – getting patients onto their treatment pathways sooner than would otherwise happen – and introducing virtual reality therapy to give patients receiving chemotherapy a better experience during their treatment," he said.

To support the Royal Free Charity’s appeal, visit www.royalfreecharity.org/future