Earlier this month, the European Respiratory Society (ERS) and the European Alliance for Personalised Medicine (EAPM) held a half-day roundtable on the topic of lung cancer screening, which highlighted the latest developments in Member States and the rationale for adopting screening programmes in the EU.
The event, which took place in Brussels on 8 April 2019, was attended by more than 50 high-level delegates and speakers and aimed to encourage debate among participants on how lung cancer screening could save lives, could cut costs for the health systems, and how it should be rolled out across Europe. The importance of smoking cessation to supplement lung cancer screening programmes was also emphasised throughout the event.
The first session entitled Best Practice and Feasibility of Lung Cancer Screening to Improve Lives presented the latest evidence on lung cancer programmes’ ability to detect nodules at the earliest stage possible. It was generally agreed among speakers that there should be strict quality assurance and management for lung cancer screening programmes.
The second session entitled Political Need for Action demonstrated that not only are lung cancer screening programmes cost-effective, but there is also political will at both the national and European level to implement them. The importance of fighting the stigma associated with smoking and lung cancer was also highlighted during the panel discussion.
Key conclusions from the event focused upon the role of politicians and policymakers in adopting European guidelines on lung cancer screening programmes, which is needed in order to facilitate the implementation of those programmes at the national level.