Lesson video

Hello, I'm Mr. Marchand, and I'll be your history teacher for today's lesson.

I'm really excited to have you joining me as we explore today's subject and my number one priority will be to help ensure that you can meet our lesson objective for today.

Welcome to today's lesson, which is part of our Edexcel unit on medicine in Britain.

By the end of today's lesson, you'll be able to evaluate the success of attempts to manage the problems caused by lung cancer in the 21st century.

There are two key words which will help us navigate our way through today's lesson.

Those are passive smoking, and enclosed.

Passive smoking is where non-smokers breathe in smoke from cigarettes, and enclosed in this context refers to a space that is surrounded or closed off on all sides.

Today's lesson will be split into three parts, and will begin by focusing on the problem of lung cancer.

Lung cancer is a serious disease caused by irregular, and uncontrolled growth of cells in the lungs.

Lung cancer has been amongst the most common causes of death for people in modern Britain.

In the 20th century, cases of lung cancer became increasingly common in Britain.

In the 21st century, lung cancer is responsible for more deaths than any other type of cancer.

As around 35,000 people die from the disease each year.

Most, although not all cases of lung cancer are caused by factors outside of the body.

Air pollution is amongst these causes.

Almost 8% of current lung cancer cases are caused by people breathing in harmful pollutants in the air.

However, the most common cause of lung cancer is smoking, accounting for 79% of all cases.

This is because cigarettes contain certain chemicals which harm the lungs, and can cause cancerous tumours to develop.

Some non-smokers, especially children may also develop lung cancer as a result of passive smoking, sometimes known as secondhand smoke, where they breathe in smoke from other people's cigarettes.

In the early 20th century, smoking was generally not regarded as a dangerous activity, but in the 1950's, scientists and doctors conclusively proved the link between smoking and lung cancer.

Nevertheless, smoking remained popular afterwards.

Indeed, in 1974, half of all men in Britain were smokers.

So let's make sure we have a secure understanding of everything that we've just heard.

How many people die from lung cancer each year in the UK? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said the correct answer was 35,000.

Around 35,000 people die from lung cancer each year in the UK.

And let's try another question.

In which decade did scientists conclusively prove that smoking can cause lung cancer? Was it during the 1930's, the 1950's, the 1970's or the 1990's? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said the correct answer was B.

In the 1950's, it was conclusively proven that smoking can cause lung cancer.

And now we have a statement on the screen that reads, smoking is not the only cause of lung cancer, but is that statement true or false? Pause the video here and press play when you are ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that, that statement was true, but we need to be able to justify our response.

So why is it that the original statement was correct? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to check your answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said, 8% of all lung cancer cases occur because people breathe in harmful pollutants in the air, not because of smoking.

And let's try one final question.

I want you to write the missing word for the following sentence.

Children and adults who spend time around smokers can develop lung cancer themselves as a result of blank smoking.

So what's the missing word? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that the missing word was passive.

Children and adults who spend time around smokers can develop lung cancer themselves as a result of passive smoking.

So now we're in a good position to put all of our knowledge about the problem of lung cancer into practise.

There are five statements.

For each of those statements, I want you to identify whether they are true or false, and then I want you to correct any of the statements which were false.

You should provide additional detail to support any of those corrections which you need to make.

So pause the video here, and press play when you're ready to reflect on your responses.

Okay, well done for all of your hard work on that task.

So we had five statements and I asked you to identify whether each one was true or false.

For our first statement, that lung cancer became a common disease in modern Britain, you should have said that this was true.

For our second statement, that chemicals contained in cigarettes can cause cancer, you should also have said that, that was true.

For our third statement, that only smokers can develop lung cancer, you should have identified that, that statement was false.

For our fourth statement in the 1950's, it was proven that smoking can cause lung cancer, you should have said that it was true.

And for our fifth statement, smoking became unpopular once it was proven it could cause cancer, you should have said that, that was false.

So I then asked you to correct any of the false statements, providing additional detail to support those corrections.

So your answers may have included, most people who develop lung cancer are smokers.

However, non-smokers can also develop lung cancer due to causes such as passive smoking and air pollution.

And smoking remained popular even after it was proven in the 1950's that it could cause cancer.

For example, over half of men in the UK was smokers in 1974.

So well done if your own responses look something like those models which we've just seen.

And so now we're ready to move on to the second part of our lesson for today where we are going to think about diagnosing and treating lung cancer.

Diagnosing lung cancer can be difficult.

Nevertheless, improved technology has helped doctors to diagnose lung cancer more effectively.

In cases where diagnosis occurs early, this has also enabled some treatments to be performed effectively.

Diagnosis of lung cancer can be particularly difficult in its early stages, and many patients confuse their symptoms for those of other diseases.

However, the use of new technologies in the 20th century did help to improve the accuracy of diagnoses for lung cancer.

Initially, X-rays were often used to scan for tumours in the lungs, but whilst this could be helpful, the scans were not detailed enough to be reliable.

Since the 1970's, CT scans have been used to help make lung cancer diagnoses as they can provide far more detailed images than X-rays are capable of.

To ensure a reliable diagnosis, if doctors believe that a CT scan has detected lung cancer, they usually proceed to conduct further observations to confirm the diagnosis.

For instance, bronchoscopes, thin and flexible tubes with a camera on the end can be used to get further images of the inside of the lungs and also to take samples which can confirm whether a patient does have lung cancer and how advanced it may be.

So thinking about what we've heard so far, what is the name of the thin and flexible tubes with cameras at the end used to help doctors see inside lungs? Is it bronchoscopes, microscopes or stethoscopes? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that the correct answer was A, bronchoscopes.

Are thin and flexible tubes with cameras at the end that can be used by doctors to help see inside a patient's lungs.

And this time I want you to write the missing word for the following statement.

The use of blank scans instead of X-rays helped improve the accuracy of lung cancer diagnoses from the 1970's onwards.

So what's the missing word? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that the missing word was CT.

The use of CT scans instead of X-rays helped improve the accuracy of lung cancer diagnoses from the 1970's onwards.

There are a range of possible treatments for lung cancer, including both invasive and non-invasive methods.

Since 1983, it has been possible in Britain to replace cancerous lungs with a transplant from a healthy donor.

However, transplants are not particularly effective for treating lung cancer, and so the procedure is not carried out very often for lung cancer patients.

More commonly smaller surgeries which focus on removing the tumour from a patient's lungs are used.

It is also common for lung cancer patients to receive non-invasive treatments such as radiotherapy and chemotherapy.

Radiotherapy uses concentrated waves of radiation to destroy cancerous cells.

Whilst chemotherapy involves injecting patients with a range of drugs to fight cancerous tumours.

These treatments can come with challenging side effects such as fatigue and hair loss, but they can also be very effective.

If they are used early, treatments like radiotherapy, chemotherapy, and surgeries to remove tumours have a success rate of 80%, saving many lives each year.

However, at present, almost half of all new lung cancer diagnoses occur when the disease is already at its most advanced stage, meaning effective treatment is not possible.

So let's make sure we have a secure understanding of what we've just heard.

I want you to identify two common treatments for lung cancer.

Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to check your answers.

Okay, well done to everybody who mentioned any two of the following treatments, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, and surgery.

And this time we have a statement on the screen which reads, 80% of people diagnosed with lung cancer are treated successfully.

Is that statement true or false? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to check your answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that, that statement was false, but we need to be able to justify our response.

So why is it that, that original statement was incorrect? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to check your answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said, almost half of lung cancer diagnoses unfortunately occur when the disease is at an advanced stage, meaning patients can't be treated effectively.

So we are now in a good position to put all of our knowledge about diagnosing and treating lung cancer into practise.

Firstly, I want you to explain one reason why diagnosis of lung cancer improved during the 20th century.

And then I want you to explain one reason why it remains difficult to treat many cases of lung cancer.

So pause the video here and press play when you are ready to reflect on your responses.

Okay, well done for all of your hard work on that task.

So firstly, I asked you to explain one reason why diagnosis of lung cancer improved during the 20th century.

And your answer may have included, advances in technology helped to improve the diagnosis of lung cancer during the 20th century.

For example, in the 1970's, it became possible to conduct CT scans of patient's lungs.

These CT scans produced more detailed images of the lungs than had previously been possible when doctors relied upon X-rays.

Consequently, doctors had more information to help them reliably identify tumours in the lungs, and diagnose cases of lung cancer.

And then I asked you to explain one reason why it remains difficult to treat many cases of lung cancer and your answer may have included: one reason why it remains difficult to treat many cases of lung cancer is because of continued problems with diagnosing the disease.

A wide range of treatments including surgery, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy are available and they have a success rate of 80% when the disease is diagnosed early.

However, the symptoms of lung cancer can be hard to detect, and almost half of all patients unfortunately only receive a diagnosis once the cancer has already reached an advanced stage.

At this point, most treatments are ineffective, making it difficult to treat the disease.

So really well done if your own responses look something like those models, which we've just seen.

And so now we're ready to move on to the third and final part of our lesson for today where we are going to think about preventing lung cancer.

Late diagnosis makes treating lung cancer difficult, whilst the care provided for lung cancer patients cost the NHS billions of pounds each year.

Consequently, governments in 21st century Britain have increasingly focused on trying to prevent lung cancer.

These efforts have mainly focused on stopping people from smoking.

Although British governments were initially slow to respond to evidence that smoking causes lung cancer, they became more willing to take strong action to stop smoking as time progressed.

This has included introducing laws which restrict where people can smoke.

In 2007, a ban on smoking in all enclosed public spaces such as workplaces, restaurants, and bars came into force.

Although the public smoking ban faced some opposition at the time, it is now widely supported in Britain.

Not only did the law make it harder to smoke, but it also gave non-smokers greater protections against the dangers posed by passive smoking.

New restrictions in 2007 also included raising the minimum age to buy cigarettes from 16 to 18.

In 2023, the government also announced a plan to ban anyone born after 2008 from ever buying cigarettes.

However, as the government has worked to reduce traditional smoking, a new challenge has emerged.

In recent years, vaping has also become popular.

While there is currently no clear evidence that vaping alone causes lung cancer, scientists are concerned about the long-term effects of chemicals in e-cigarettes, and there is currently not enough research to rule out the impact of vaping on a person's health.

Research does show however that people who both smoke, and vape have an even higher risk of lung cancer than those who only smoke.

Following the same pattern of government intervention seen with cigarettes, in response to these concerns, the government has begun to restrict vaping, including banning disposable vapes in June, 2025.

So thinking about what we've just heard, I want you to identify two ways that smoking laws changed in 2007.

Is it that all people born after 1993 were banned from smoking? That the minimum age to buy cigarettes was raised? That smoking was banned in enclosed public spaces, or that tobacco sales were completely banned? Remember, you need to identify two correct answers for this question.

So pause the video here and press play when you're ready to check your answers.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that the correct answers were B and C.

In 2007, the minimum age to buy cigarettes was raised from 16 to 18, and smoking was banned in enclosed public spaces.

And now I want you to identify an example of an enclosed public space where smoking was banned in 2007.

Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to check your answer.

Okay, so your answer to this question might have included some of the following locations, workplaces, restaurants, and bars.

These are all examples of enclosed public spaces where smoking was banned from 2007 onwards.

As well as passing laws which have restricted where people can smoke, governments in the 21st century have also focused on influencing people not to smoke.

To prevent children from becoming addicted, education is provided in both primary and secondary schools about the dangers of smoking.

Advertising restrictions were also introduced to try and reduce the appeal of cigarette smoking.

For example, since 2005, tobacco companies have been banned from advertising their products.

This was a significant change as well as restrictions on TV advertising had previously existed.

Before the 2005 ban, major sporting events like Formula One races were frequently sponsored by tobacco companies, meaning that millions of people still saw their adverts.

New laws have also tried to encourage existing smokers to quit by emphasising the dangers of smoking.

Since 2003, cigarette packages have been required to display large health warnings with messages like, smoking kills.

Meanwhile, the NHS now offers all hospital patients who smoke, even those who aren't admitted for smoking related health conditions, NHS funded services to help them quit smoking cigarettes.

These efforts of prevention have contributed to significant reductions in smoking rates, and deaths from lung cancer in the 21st century.

In 2014, there were fewer than half as many smokers in Britain as there had been in 1974.

Current death rates from lung cancer are 31% lower than they were in the early 1970's and it's estimated that this decline in death rates avoided over 600,000 extra deaths from lung cancer between 1975 and 2025.

So let's make sure we have a secure understanding of everything we've just heard.

How did the number of smokers in Britain change between 1974 and 2014? Was it that it more than doubled? Did it increase by a quarter, decreased by a quarter or more than halved? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that the correct answer was D, the number of smokers in Britain more than halved between 1974 and 2014.

How many deaths are estimated to have been avoided since the early 1970's due to declining lung cancer death rates? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said over 600,000.

Over 600,000 deaths are estimated to have been avoided since the early 1970's due to declining lung cancer death rates.

And finally, I would like you to identify one action taken by British governments, which was likely to reduce the risk of children becoming addicted to cigarette smoking.

Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to check your answer.

Okay, well done if you identified one of the following responses, the education on smoking risks has been provided in schools.

In 2005, there was a ban on tobacco advertising.

In 2007, the minimum smoking age was increased or that in 2023, a plan to ban anyone born after 2008 from ever buying cigarettes was announced.

So we are now in a good position to put all of our knowledge about preventing lung cancer into practise.

To what extent have government attempts to prevent lung cancer in the 21st century been successful? Explain your answer in two paragraphs.

You should refer to specific actions taken by governments in the 21st century as part of your answer.

So pause the video here and press play when you're ready to reflect on your response.

Now okay, well done for all of your effort on that task.

So I asked you, to what extent have government attempts to prevent lung cancer in the 21st century been successful? And your answer may have included: in the 21st century, governments have mainly attempted to prevent lung cancer by stopping people from smoking as this is the main cause of the disease.

These attempts have included new legal restrictions on smoking.

For instance, in 2007, the minimum age to buy cigarettes was raised from 16 to 18, and smoking in enclosed public spaces was banned.

The change in minimum age was important as it made it harder for young people to buy cigarettes, reducing the chance of them developing an addiction.

Meanwhile, the public smoking ban helped protect people from passive smoking, reducing the risk that non-smokers would develop lung cancer.

Governments in the 21st century have also tried to encourage people to make healthier choices.

For example, primary and secondary schools educate children about the dangers of smoking.

And since 2003, cigarette packaging has included large health warnings including messages like smoking kills.

By ensuring people know the risks, governments have hoped to discourage smoking.

Whilst lung cancer remains a serious issue, killing 35,000 people each year, there has been progress.

The number of smokers in Britain more than halved from 1974 to 2014, and death rates from lung cancer have fallen by 31% since the early 1970's.

This suggests that governments have successfully reduced, if not eliminated the problem of lung cancer.

So really well done if your own response looks something like that model, which we've just seen.

And so now we've reached the end of today's lesson, which puts us in a good position to summarise our learning about the fight against lung cancer in the 21st century.

We've seen that lung cancer became an increasingly common disease in the 20th century.

Smoking, including passive smoking is the main cause of lung cancer, but factors like air pollution can also cause a disease.

Treatments are available to fight lung cancer, but unfortunately, many people are diagnosed too late for these to work.

In the 21st century, attempts to prevent lung cancer have prioritised getting people to stop or avoid smoking, including public smoking bans.

And smoking has become less common in 21st century Britain.

And death rates from lung cancer have also declined since the 1970's.

So really well done for all of your hard work during today's lesson.

It's been a pleasure to help guide you for our resources today, and I look forward to seeing you again in future as we continue to think about medicine in Britain.