PEOPLE living on estates in parts of Oxford and Banbury are more likely to get lung cancer, a county health chief has said.

Residents in Barton, Rose Hill, Littlemore, Ruscote, Grimsbury and Neithrop in Banbury are more likely to contract the disease because of their lifestyles, Dr Tom Porter said.

The news comes as NHS Oxfordshire launches a campaign to get people to visit their GP if they think they may have any symptoms of bowel and lung cancer, the UK’s two biggest killers.

About 350 county residents get bowel cancer and 250 get lung cancer every year.

One in two lung cancer sufferers will survive for five years if it is detected in the early stages.

But this falls to less than one in ten if the disease is well progressed.

Five-year survival is nine in 10 if bowel cancer is spotted early but one in 10 if well progressed.

Dr Porter, a consultant in public health medicine at the health authority, urged people to go to the doctor if they have symptoms.

He said: “In many cases it will be nothing to worry about but it is vital that people see their GP and, if needed, get proper testing, just to be sure.

“People put off seeing their doctor for a range of reasons.

“They might feel embarrassed, or not want to waste their doctor’s time – but if you have a cough which has lasted more than three weeks, or have blood in your poo or loose poo lasting more than three weeks, you should see your GP.

“The worst thing to do is nothing.”

The authority and the Thames Valley Cancer Network is now targeting Oxford’s estates with a poster and advertising campaign about symptoms and available services.

Network director Pat Haye said: “There is now overwhelming evidence that patients whose cancer is diagnosed and treated early can have a good outcome and many more people are surviving cancer.

“But it is also clear that too many people are not aware of the symptoms of bowel and lung cancer and are not diagnosed until the disease is in a much more advanced stage, when it is much more difficult to treat.

“Caught early, survival rates are better, so our campaign will be urging patients to be aware of the key symptoms and to go to their GP if they feel they have any of the symptoms.”