text: A telescopic tube that scans the lungs for cancer is being used by NHS doctors, cutting diagnosis time from days to just 30 minutes. When tumours in the lungs are suspected, patients can face a raft of tests and even surgery to find out if they have the disease, often resulting in an agonising wait before they start lifesaving treatment. Now doctors at University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (UCLH) are able to start vital treatment much sooner using a single procedure. It even allows them to assess instantly the type and severity of the cancer. Scroll down for video . A finger-width flexible tube called an endobronchial ultrasound (EBUS) allows doctors to see inside the lungs and take a tissue sample in one go. The procedure involves inserting the EBUS down the throat, guided by a tiny camera fitted to the tube. An ultrasound scanner attached to one end of the tube takes a scan while a small needle takes a tissue sample. Findings from a three-year trial at UCLH reveal that the method halves the time it takes between a patient’s first hospital appointment and for a decision to be made on the best course of treatment. EBUS patients wait an average of 14 days for a decision, compared with 29 days for those diagnosed via more conventional techniques. And as well as getting a quicker diagnosis, patients who have undergone EBUS survive for longer. Doctors at University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (pictured) are able to start vital treatment much sooner using a single procedure . They survive for 503 days after diagnosis, compared with 312 days for people assessed through more traditional methods. This is probably due to the fact that EBUS can more accurately diagnose the type of cancer involved and therefore the type of treatment needed. Consultant Dr Neal Navani, who has been testing the technique, said the results had been so impressive that he now hoped the procedure would be rolled out across the NHS. ‘EBUS routinely prevents the need for scans, tests and operations and speeds up the route to the correct treatment,’ he says. He adds: ‘The trial showed that the new procedure is quicker and better – it halves the time to the start of treatment at no additional cost.’ BBC political editor Nick Robinson announced that doctors found a tumour on his lung earlier this year . More than 40,000 people are diagnosed with lung cancer in the UK every year, yet the disease is notoriously difficult to treat as it is often spotted at a late stage. The BBC’s political editor Nick Robinson announced earlier this year that doctors had found a tumour on his lung, and he has since undergone a successful operation to remove the growth. Diagnosing lung cancer can be a challenge – X-rays are not always definitive as it is hard to distinguish between cancer and other lung conditions. A biopsy is the traditional way to check conclusively whether a patient has lung cancer. However, obtaining a tissue sample can be difficult as lung cancer often spreads to the lymph nodes in the chest and these are hard to reach. This means that surgery may be necessary before a doctor can be sure that the disease is present, resulting in a wait for results. The health of many cancer patients can deteriorate because these delays mean they are not started immediately on lifesaving treatments such as chemotherapy. By comparison, the EBUS allows doctors to look directly into the windpipe and breathing tubes, while the ultrasound scanner can check the lymph glands in the centre of the chest for cancer. One patient who received faster treatment thanks to the EBUS technique is retired sales worker Maureen Mullen. The 65-year-old from Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, had already had a tumour removed from her lung in September 2013, and underwent a double mastectomy the following March after being diagnosed with breast cancer. Then in June last year, she began to feel breathless while on holiday in Spain. When she returned home to Britain, she was given the devastating news that she had a new lump behind her breastbone. Her doctors could not be sure what type of cancer it was without investigating further, so they recommended she have the pioneering EBUS procedure. ‘They said I was a very sick lady,’ reveals Maureen. ‘My consultant explained the procedure to me and I was taken into the operating theatre and sedated. It was all over so quickly – there were no side effects from the procedure, no dry mouth or sluggishness, and I felt really positive about the whole process.’ The EBUS revealed Maureen had small cell carcinoma, a form of lung cancer that can spread quickly, and she needed a course of chemotherapy immediately. She started treatment the next day, and after six months of chemo, the tumour was gone. ‘The EBUS was brilliantly efficient,’ adds Maureen. ‘By 4pm that day, my cancer had been diagnosed and the appropriate chemotherapy was ordered for me to start the next day. ‘Had I had a traditional biopsy, who knows where I’d be.’
target: When tumours in lungs are suspected, patients can face a raft of tests .
  Some even need surgery to find out before lifesaving treatment can begin .
  Now doctors at University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust are able to start vital treatment much sooner after single procedure .
  It even allows them to assess instantly the type and severity of the cancer .