Supervisors info:
Πέτρος Μπακάκος, Αναπληρωτής Καθηγητής , Ιατρικής Σχολή, ΕΚΠΑ
Γρηγόριος Στρατάκος, Αναπληρωτής Καθηγητής, Ιατρικής Σχολή, ΕΚΠΑ
Νικολέτα Ροβίνα, Επίκουρη Καθηγήτρια, Ιατρικής Σχολή, ΕΚΠΑ
Summary:
Introduction: Lung cancer (LC) is one of the most important public health problems in recent decades with 62 new cases per 100,000 people recorded annually in the USA. Because of its high prevalence and its well-defined association with smoking, screening in high-risk groups with low-dose computed tomography (LDCT) is necessary. Despite the high sensitivity of these methods, the false positive results remain high and for this reason further research is necessary in areas such as the risk factors for LC and the criteria for screening as well as the study for the identification of biomarkers. Purpose of this paper work is to review the current studies on the screening of LC.
Method: The purpose of this paper is to highlight the current studies on the screening of LC. Therefore, it is necessary to search for studies that have not yet been published. This search was performed through the ClinicalTrials.gov page using the following keywords: Lung Cancer and screening. The following filters were also used: a) Recruiting, b) Not yet recruiting, c) Active not recruiting, d) Enrolling by invitation, e) Suspended, f) Terminated, g) Withdrawn. The search resulted in 356 studies of which 57 were deemed suitable for reference in this paper.
Results: Research today could be categorized into the following five areas:
Α)Current studies on risk factors for LC, such as the LUSCO-1 and PREVALUNG studies.
Β)Current studies on the inclusion criteria of individuals in a screening program for LC such as the HANSE study.
C)Current studies on the evaluation of findings from a screening program, such as The Watch Spot Trial (WTS) study.
D) Current studies on biomarkers that can contribute to screening such as the BIOMILD and SUMMIT studies
E) Current studies on the implementation of screening programs and the inclusion of a smoking cessation program in them such as the CLEAR and PLUTO studies.
Conclusions: Summarizing the current studies on the screening of LC attempt to fill in the existing research the following gaps:
A) The identification of biomarkers that will more accurately identify individuals at high risk for LC and thus minimize false positive results.
B) The emergence of technologies that will be able to help doctors distinguish a benign from a malignant tumor in LDCT.
C) The emergence of predictive models for LC that will combine more factors than smoking history and age.
D)Highlighting the Shared Decision making process SDM as a key step in the screening algorithm.
E) The implementation of a screening program in special population groups that do not have adequate health coverage.
