One of the concerns surrounding lung cancer screening has been whether this activity would give tobacco users a ‘licence to smoke’. Philip Crosbie, MBChB, MRCP, PhD, of the University of Manchester, Manchester, UK, discusses the impact of a community-based lung cancer screening pilot on smoking behaviour in a deprived population. Dr Crosbie shares how the Manchester Lung Health Check Pilot revealed that screening actually had the opposite effect, and explains the next steps for the pilot in this regard. This interview took place at the British Thoracic Oncology Group (BTOG) 2019 Annual Conference, held in Dublin, Ireland.