One of the country's foremost lung cancer experts, Prof Des Carney, says a new report shows that 88 per cent of all Irish patients are diagnosed with lung cancer once they are in the late stages of the disease.

Fifty-four per cent of all lung cancer patients in Ireland do not receive anti-tumour treatment for their condition.

By comparison, only 10 per cent of lung cancer patients in Germany do not receive treatment.

Lung cancer rates of survival across Europe are similar, with almost 90 per cent of all newly diagnosed patients dying within five years. However, the report highlighted that Ireland is among the lowest ranked countries in Europe in terms of treatment outcomes for lung cancer patients - ranking alongside the United Kingdom, Denmark, Poland, the Czech Republic, Russian Federation, Hungary and Norway.

The author of the report had this to say: "This report highlights that Ireland is behind the rest of Europe in terms of early diagnosis and treatment levels, which is resulting in poorer than average survival rates for lung cancer patients. Unlike in other European countries, access to treatments in Ireland is not a problem, yet less than half of all lung cancer patients receive active treatment in the form of surgery, radiation and cancer drugs. Often this is due to the late stage at which patients are diagnosed."