Caroline Aherne Has Lung Cancer as Royle Family Star Battles Disease Again

Caroline Aherne has lung cancer, the TV star has revealed.

Aherne, who is known to millions of viewers for her role in the Royle Family TV comedy series is receiving treatment in Manchester. Aherne, 50, has beaten bladder and eye cancer previously.

Aherne revealed her battle at the opening of a £3.4m bid to improve care for cancer patients in the city.

She chose not to talk in detail about her own condition as she condemned standards of care in Manchester.

She said: "It's truly shocking to learn that Manchester came bottom out of 150 areas in England for premature deaths from cancer. Our survival rates are a quarter lower than average and the number of people getting lung cancer is a third higher here than in the rest of England.

"There are too many stories about bad communication leading to patients waiting too long and feeling ignored and abandoned and that same bad communication is contributing to poor statistics on cancer."

Aherne is well know to TV viewers for her role in The Royle Family, alongside Ricky Tomlinson. Playing his character Jim Royle's daughter, Aherne is rarely seen without a cigarette in her mouth.

However, Aherne's latest cancer battle is linked to genetics. She was orignally struck down with eye cancer as a teenager and is virtually blind in one eye.

Aherne first came to many people's attention as the acerbic interviewer Mrs Merton, as whom she famously asked magician Paul Daniels' glamorous assistant, Debbie McGee: "So, what attracted to the millionaire Paul Daniels?"

She has also half a history of mental illness nad she attempted suicide in 1998.

Recently, she has returned to TV providing the voiceovers for the hit Channel 4 show Googlebox.