On-the-spot liver scans will be on offer to people in Barrow next month as part of a pilot to catch more cancers earlier and save lives.
The liver health checks include a Fibroscan which is a quick and painless scan that can detect the signs of chronic liver disease like significant scarring or cirrhosis, which increases the risk of liver cancer.
It means that people at higher risk of liver cancer can be identified and monitored regularly to spot any early signs of the disease.
Checks are being offered to adults with diabetes, high BMI, high levels of alcohol consumption, or diagnosis of previous or current viral hepatitis or non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, as these factors increase the risk of developing cirrhosis of the liver.
A mobile liver scanner will be outside Barrow Town Hall on Friday, October 20 and people are welcome to go along to be scanned.
Nationally, there are 6,100 diagnoses of liver cancer each year and the number of deaths from the disease in under-75s has gone up by almost 35 per cent in the last 20 years.
It is an urgent local priority, health bosses said, as in several areas of Lancashire and South Cumbria, there was a significant impact of liver disease on life expectancy.
Of those cases, only one in five is currently diagnosed at an early enough stage to treat, but this programme will help catch more cancers earlier, giving patients a much better chance of beating the illness.
Symptoms of liver cancer include unexpected weight loss, loss of appetite, vomiting blood, and pain or swelling of the abdomen.
If anyone has symptoms of liver cancer, they should visit their GP straight away.
