Shirley cancer-free and set to marry after early lung cancer diagnosis

When Shirley Gale was invited for a routine lung screening scan, she had no reason to think anything was wrong. Now, after early detection led to successful surgery, she is cancer-free and preparing to marry her partner, Neil Warwick, this Sunday.

Shirley, who had not smoked for 26 years but previously had 20 cigarettes a day, was invited for screening after honestly sharing her smoking history plus details about possible asbestos exposure from renovating old properties and asthma.

A second appointment with the lung cancer screening team from University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire (UHCW) NHS Trust found a small lung nodule which was monitored over time.

At a follow-up scan on Christmas Eve 2025, the nodule had grown to around 2.5cm. Although Shirley had no symptoms, the change prompted further tests. A PET scan showed no evidence that the cancer had spread.

Shirley was offered the option of a biopsy or surgery to remove the area directly. Trusting the advice of her surgical team, she chose surgery. The operation removed around 60 per cent of the upper-left lobe of her lung, and pathology confirmed the tumour was malignant - but it had been removed completely and Shirley did not need any further treatment.

“I can’t thank the team enough,” said Shirley, who has owned La Casa Loco restaurant in Rugby for 34 years. “From the nurses who first contacted me to the lung team and the surgeons, everyone was brilliant. I felt listened to, cared for and reassured all the way through.”

The experience has been life-changing for Shirley and Neil, who decided not to put off their wedding any longer.

“Going through this makes you realise what matters, it was a wake-up call!” added Shirley.

“It was a life-affirming moment. My partner and I have been together seven-and-a-half years and we’d been pushing getting married down the line. But you realise life is not a rehearsal; in a way I found it an empowering experience.”

Shirley is now encouraging anyone invited for lung screening to attend and to answer the risk questions honestly, particularly about smoking history.

“There is nothing to lose and everything to gain,” she said. “The best news is they do not find anything, but if they do then it’s best to know and start treatment early when it has a higher chance of success.”

The targeted lung screening programme expanded earlier this year from Coventry, Nuneaton, Bedworth and Rugby into south Warwickshire, starting in Stratford, with further areas to follow.

Lung cancer is one of the most common and serious types of cancer with more than 43,000 people diagnosed every year in the UK, although it's rare in under-40s.

Smoking is the most common cause (accounting for more than 70 per cent of cases). For more details about lung cancer screening, click here.

* Shirley is pictured with members of the Coventry and Warwickshire Lung Cancer screening team