Alternative criteria for lung cancer screening | va boston health care | veterans affairs

BOSTON , MA — A researcher at VA Boston, BU Chobanian & Avedisian SOM and Boston Medical Center helped develop alternative lung cancer screening to identify people who would benefit from

screening, but are excluded by current criteria, according to research published Aug. 20, 2024, in Annals of Internal Medicine. “We found these high-benefit groups include those who smoked

for a long duration, but at a lower intensity, those with heavy smoking who quit more than 15 years ago, and those from some racial and ethnic minority groups,” said Dr. Lauren Kearney, lead

author of the study, research fellow at VA Boston’s Center for Healthcare Organization & Implementation Research, pulmonary and critical care fellow at Boston Medical Center, and

instructor at Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine. Researchers used responses to the National Health Interview Survey from more than 58 million smoking adults from

1997 to 2018, to study whether alternative criteria could better identify high-benefit persons and whom this would include. They used fast and frugal tee algorithms to develop an

alternative set of simple criteria. The researchers then compared the alternative criteria with U.S. Preventative Services Task Force, or USPSTF, criteria, evaluating their ability to

identify high-benefit people. They also looked for where the selected populations overlapped and where the alternative criteria overcame USPSTF criteria limitations. Results suggest that the

alternative criteria have higher sensitivity and specificity in identifying high-benefit people, and is substantially more sensitive in identifying high-benefit people in racial and ethnic

minority populations than the USPSTF criteria. Analysis showed inequity in current USPSTF criteria, which has poor sensitivity for identifying high-benefit Black people for lung cancer

screening. The researchers also believe that, beyond the lung cancer screening context, their approach could be useful for other cancer screening and prevention modalities. “The alternative

criteria produced more effective screening, led to better support of ethical risk management, and substantially reduced racial disparities in lung cancer screening eligibility,” explained

Kearney. “The alternative criteria are also easy to remember and represent a feasible way to improve current lung cancer screening eligibility criteria.” The research is available at

https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/M23-3250 A video in which Dr. Lauren Kearney, research fellow at VA Boston’s Center for Healthcare Organization & Implementation Research,

pulmonary and critical care fellow at Boston Medical Center, and instructor at Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, gives insight on developing alternative lung

cancer screening criteria to identify people who would benefit significantly from screening, but are excluded by current criteria, is also available at

https://www.facebook.com/VABoston/videos/1025421289053133