Poor Uptake of Lung Cancer Screening: Opportunities for Improvement

Abstract

Lung cancer screening with low-dose chest CT has been demonstrated to reduce lung cancer mortality among a subset of high-risk current and former smokers. Despite randomized trial evidence and widespread guideline recommendations, uptake of lung cancer screening among currently eligible individuals remains poor. Recent studies estimate that less than 5% of all eligible individuals have undergone screening. Moreover, inappropriate screening of ineligible individuals seems to be common, and among those who have been screened, follow-up may also be poor. In this review, the authors examine recent studies demonstrating the current state of suboptimal implementation of lung cancer screening. The authors also introduce both patient- and provider-facing evidence-based interventions that may improve implementation of screening. These include tailored navigation interventions to overcome patient barriers throughout the screening care continuum and interventions to improve the identification of eligible individuals for providers. Further evidence on best practices around the implementation of lung cancer screening is essential to ensure that recent evidence can be translated into practice to improve the early detection of lung cancer for high-risk individuals.

Keywords: Lung cancer; cancer prevention; early detection of cancer; thoracic oncology.