Lung cancer is more successfully treated when diagnosed at an early stage. The goal of lung cancer screening is to detect lung cancer at a very early stage — when it is more likely to be cured.
The recently announced results of the NELSON trial – carried out in the Netherlands and Belgium – show that screening programmes for those at risk of lung cancer are beneficial and are to be recommended.
We welcome these long-awaited results. The European Respiratory Society (ERS) now urges countries in Europe to implement screening programmes for lung cancer without delay. All too often lung cancer is detected too late – rolling out dedicated screening programmes can make a real difference and lives can be saved.
Furthermore, the European Union is best placed to develop common lung cancer screening guidelines in order to help Member States to implement comprehensive screening programmes for high-risk individuals. This is best done in multidisciplinary centres involving experts on smoking cessation and early lung cancer management.
For more information on the ERS position on lung cancer screening see:
- ERS Vision
- ESR/ERS white paper on lung cancer screening
- ERS is offering a lung cancer screening Research Seminar in December, 2018: Lung cancer screening: from trial to practice (11 -12 December, 2018)