Mulling the substantial population of women who are eligible for lung cancer screening (LCS) but forgo the exam, experts recently questioned whether a strategy that combines LCS with breast cancer screening practices could increase compliance.
The updated expansion of eligibility (regarding age and smoking history) for low dose CT lung cancer screening means that many women who routinely undergo annual breast cancer screening are also eligible to be screened for lung cancer. Despite this, LCS remains widely underutilized among eligible women.
This was evident in a study published recently in JAMA, where experts revealed that less than half of eligible women who completed their breast cancer screening had also undergone an LDCT exam. In fact, out of 99 eligible women included in the analysis, just 35.5% were screened for lung cancer [1].
Experts involved in the study suggested that a general “lack of awareness” among ordering providers regarding LDCT could be partially to blame for the observed underutilization.
“In a recent survey, one-half of primary care physicians (PCPs) were not familiar with USPSTF recommendations,” corresponding author of the paper Ashley L. Titan, MD, from the Department of Surgery at Stanford University Hospital, and colleagues shared, adding that there are inconsistencies among ordering providers in screening guideline adherence.
“The data suggest the same clinicians who follow BCS guidelines fail to follow LCS guidelines, possibly leading to decreased screening rates in eligible women.”
In this study, 874 women underwent screening for breast cancer at a single institution. Of those, 11.3% (99) were also eligible for lung cancer screening, 35.5% of whom completed the exam. Primary care physicians were responsible for ordering 82.6% of breast cancer screenings for eligible patients, compared to 60% of exams for those eligible for LCS.
The authors suggested these findings indicate breast cancer screenings present an additional opportunity to identify more women who would also qualify for LCS, and that women would benefit from the combined practice.
“Identifying women eligible for LCS during their BCS could increase detection rates and potentially at an earlier stage,” the authors wrote.
They also suggest that increasing eligibility education among primary care physicians could additionally increase screening rates among eligible women.
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In addition to her background in journalism, Hannah also has patient-facing experience in clinical settings, having spent more than 12 years working as a registered rad tech. She joined Innovate Healthcare in 2021 and has since put her unique expertise to use in her editorial role with Health Imaging.