In this pivotal election year that will set the course of policy for several years to come, 2024 presents an opportunity for politicians at the EU Parliament and at national level to reaffirm their ambition and to take tangible action to improve cancer outcomes.
Lung cancer causes more deaths than any other cancer in Europe, in large part this may be due to late stage at diagnosis, which significantly reduces treatment options and therefore survival chances.1
The good news is that there is huge promise in reducing late diagnosis of lung cancer and improving survival rates — through targeted screening of high-risk populations. There is a growing body of evidence on the benefits of screening among those with a high risk of lung cancer due to history of smoking, and research is ongoing among those with other risk factors.1,2
Countries that have introduced screening programs are already seeing benefits. In England, which started to roll out a community-based targeted lung screening program in 2019, the proportion of lung cancers found at an early stage has increased from around 30 percent to 76 percent in some areas.3
However, implementation of lung cancer screening across Europe has been slow and inconsistent. In 2020, Croatia was the first country in the region to implement lung cancer screening,4 and since then only a few countries have introduced pilots and programs, such as England, Italy and Poland.5
We have seen a series of positive steps forward. These include the recommendation made by the Council of the European Union in 2022, encouraging member countries to consider implementing lung cancer screening,6 and the launch of the EU-funded multinational project SOLACE, which aims to increase lung cancer screening by addressing bottlenecks and ensuring people across all social and economic groups can access it.7 Despite this progress, we are still a long way from the ambition of equity in access to lung cancer screening for every person in Europe who is at high risk.
We therefore believe that the adoption of lung cancer screening should be a key area of focus for politicians and policymakers across Europe, a commitment they should make to the people they serve — or hope to serve — after the next election cycle.
The pilots and programs implemented so far present opportunities to learn about the practical challenges involved in screening, as well as best practice in overcoming them. AstraZeneca and Vision Zero Cancer are keen to support this exchange of knowledge by supporting the Lung Cancer Policy Network, as well as other initiatives. For example, AstraZeneca organised a meeting in late 2023 to explore learnings from the experience in England, where more than one million people have now been invited for a low-dose CT scan to check their lung health.8 Many of the lung screening sites are mobile scan units based in the community at locations such as supermarket car parks.3
It was clear from the discussions that the full potential of lung cancer screening will only be realized if there is close collaboration between a wide range of stakeholders — politicians, policymakers, clinicians, service managers, academics, patient organizations, industry and members of the public all have roles to play to deliver a step change in lung cancer outcomes.
AstraZeneca and Vision Zero Cancer are committed to continue working with partners from across the cancer community to unlock progress on lung cancer screening in Europe, inspiring and empowering stakeholders to drive forward the case for change and action.
Together, we hope to secure commitments for, and implementation of, lung screening programs in more countries, delivering progress on our shared goal to reduce deaths from lung cancer in Europe.
This article has been developed and funded by AstraZeneca.
References
1. Health Policy Partnership, Lung Cancer in Europe: The way forward. Accessed January 2024.
2. Yang, P., National Lung Cancer Screening Program in Taiwan: The TALENT Study. Journal of Thoracic Oncology. 2021 16;3:S58
3. NHS England, Most deprived communities more likely to receive early lung cancer diagnosis thanks to NHS trucks. Accessed June 2024.
4. Lung Cancer Policy Network. Lung cancer screening in Croatia: leading the way for earlier detection in Europe. Accessed May 2024
5. Wait, S. et al., Implementing Lung Cancer Screening in Europe: Taking a Systems Approach. JTO Clin Res Rep. 2022.
6. Council of the European Union, Council Recommendation on strengthening prevention through early detection: A new EU approach on cancer screening replacing Council Recommendation. Accessed February 2024.
7. SOLACE, Strengthening the screening of Lung Cancer in Europe. Accessed February 2024.
8. NHS England. NHS England invites more than one million people for lung cancer checks. Accessed May 2024.
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