Lung cancer screening in Australia and New Zealand: the evidence and the challenge

David Manners; Paul Dawkins; Diane Pascoe; Sue Crengle; Karen Bartholomew; Tracy L Leong

doi:10.1111/imj.15230

Lung cancer screening in Australia and New Zealand: the evidence and the challenge

Intern Med J. 2021 Mar;51(3):436-441. doi: 10.1111/imj.15230.

Authors

David Manners¹, Paul Dawkins², Diane Pascoe³, Sue Crengle⁴, Karen Bartholomew⁵, Tracy L Leong^{6

7

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Affiliations

¹ Department of Respiratory Medicine, St John of God, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.
² Department of Respiratory Medicine, Middlemore Hospital, Auckland, New Zealand.
³ Department of Radiology, Royal Melbourne Hospital, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
⁴ Department of Preventative and Social Medicine, University of Otago, Otago, New Zealand.
⁵ Planning Funding and Outcomes, Waitematã and Auckland District Health Boards, Auckland, New Zealand.
⁶ Department of Respiratory Medicine, Austin Health, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
⁷ Institute of Breathing and Sleep, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
⁸ Department of Medicine, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.

PMID: 33738936
DOI: 10.1111/imj.15230

Abstract

Lung cancer remains the commonest cause of cancer death in Australia and New Zealand. Targeted screening of individuals at highest risk of lung cancer aims to detect early stage disease, which may be amenable to potentially curative treatment. While current policy recommendations in Australia and New Zealand have acknowledged the efficacy of lung cancer screening in clinical trials, there has been no implementation of national programmes. With the recent release of findings from large international trials, the evidence and experience in lung cancer screening has broadened. This article discusses the latest evidence and implications for Australia and New Zealand.

Keywords: Australia; New Zealand; low-dose CT; lung cancer; screening.

MeSH terms

Australia / epidemiology
Early Detection of Cancer*
Humans
Lung Neoplasms* / diagnosis
Lung Neoplasms* / epidemiology
Mass Screening
New Zealand / epidemiology