Man diagnosed with early-stage cancer after screening

Updated / Monday, 9 Nov 2026 19:19

73-year-old Con Shanahan enjoys hiking and DIY, he considers himself healthy and fit, and last December, with no symptoms, he was diagnosed with lung cancer.

Mr Shanahan is one of almost 40 asymptomatic people diagnosed with early-stage lung cancer as part of a pilot screening project.

In August of this year he was given the all-clear.

"I would have viewed it as a very deadly disease, really, a fatal disease," Mr Shanahan told RTÉ News.

"I certainly didn't think you could have lung cancer with no symptoms," he added.

He is originally from Askeaton in Co Limerick but had lived in Dundalk in Co Louth for many years.

Last September he was one of more than 14,000 people who were contacted by their GP and invited to take part in the Lung Health Check pilot programme, which was run by Beaumont RCSI and funded by the Irish Cancer Society.

More than 10,000, including Mr Shanahan, then got a phone call to access their eligibility for a scan.

On the call, he was asked if he had ever smoked.

"I said, I did, but it's 35 years ago, hardly relevant, I thought.

"And then I was asked, did I get pneumonia? And I said, I actually did during COVID."

Those two details were enough to see Mr Shanahan offered a scan as part of the Lung Health Check pilot programme.

"I remember asking her, 'Are you sure it's necessary? She said it could be worth my while."

The scans were carried out in a mobile clinic that visited GAA grounds in North Dublin and in the North East region under the pilot scheme.

Mr Shanahan visited the clinic in O’Rathallaigh Park in Drogheda for his CT scan.

'I'm vey lucky'

The following December came confirmation that he had lung cancer in the top lobe of his right lung, and he had surgery in January.

"A CT scan six months later confirmed that I was cancer-free and (his surgeon) followed it up by saying that I was cured, which is a term that I could not have associated in the past with lung cancer."

"So apparently I have been cured, and I'm very lucky," Mr Shanahan said.

Mr Shanahan lost his own uncle to lung cancer in 1975 "four weeks to the day from his diagnosis."

"That left a memory for me and for my extended family that you'd never forget," he said.

"When the words 'lung cancer' were mentioned, you'd almost mention it in whispers; you wouldn't ask how are they? You'd ask how long have they got?"

According to the latest date from the National Cancer Registry Ireland three in every five lung cancer diagnoses here are made at a late stage, when the cancer is harder to treat.

However, of the almost 40 asymptomatic people identified with early-stage lung cancer during the pilot screening programme, 80% had Stage 1 cancer.

The Irish Cancer Society has called for a national lung cancer screening programme, which it says will save lives while offering value for money.

Chief Executive Nikki Gallagher said the success of the pilot programme in identifying early-stage lung cancer has already demonstrated proof of concept.