RSNA 2019 Takeaway #2: Participation In CT Lung Cancer Screening Is On The Rise

The past few weeks have been a whirlwind, with the excitement of the Thanksgiving holiday followed by the even more exciting hustle and bustle of one of our favorite meetings: RSNA. From the vendors to the speakers to the broad variety of topics that touch on every aspect of radiology, there’s always a lot to love about the RSNA meeting, and inevitably a lot to learn. This year was no exception, and we couldn’t help but walk away from RSNA 2019 excited about the future of radiology.

Changes are happening across every facet of the industry, but unsurprisingly it was the discussions related to innovation within Computed Tomography that we were the most excited to be a part of. One big topic of conversation we wanted to highlight: an update on CT lung cancer screening. 

Low participation in CT lung screening has thwarted the early detection of lung cancer for years, with studies estimating the participation rate for the exam at just 3.9% in 2015. Although the benefits of CT lung cancer screening are clear, lack of physician awareness, patient education, and in some cases access to the necessary technology for high eligibility patients in rural areas, have presented barriers to appropriate utilization of this lifesaving screening. 

According to a presentation on Wednesday at RSNA, however, things are starting to take a turn for the better. Researchers led by MGH’s Dr. Anand Narayan noted that the participation rate among eligible individuals in the US for CT lung screening has increased by as much as sevenfold in recent years, with approximately 14.1% of surveyed eligible individuals undergoing the exam.

Those numbers are far from where we’d like to be, but they do represent a major uptick in CT lung screening participation rates and are an encouraging sign to radiologists and other CT LCS advocates that their years of outreach and awareness campaigns are starting to pay off. 

So how can we continue to improve participation rates?

Narayan wrapped up the presentation with this advice. “To improve overall lung cancer screening utilization, radiology practices should employ targeted outreach campaigns towards subpopulations with increased eligibility for lung cancer screening -- current smokers, males, lower levels of education -- and decreased lung cancer screening utilization, such as patients without health insurance.”