Lung cancer screening rates: Data from the lung cancer screening registry.

Abstract

6504 Background: Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer related mortality in the United States. Since 2013, the United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommended annual screening for lung cancer with low-dose computed tomography (LDCT) for those aged 55-80 years for those who have smoked at least 30 pack years who currently smoke or have quit within the past 15 years. Current literature has provided only estimates of lung cancer screening since implementation. Our study aims to present the number of screening LDCTs being performed across the United States. Methods: Using data from the Lung Cancer Screening Registry (LCSR) provided by the American College of Radiology (ACR) in 2016, we collected the total number of LDCT from all 1,796 accredited radiographic screening sites. We used the 2015 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) to estimate screening eligible smokers per USPSTF criteria and compared them with the 2016 LCSR reported screens. Analyses excluded respondents with missing data and history of lung cancer. Results: In 2016, 1.9% of 7.6 million eligible smokers were screened. These rates varied by region from 1.0% in the West to 3.5% in the Northeast (Table). The majority of eligible smokers were populated in the South and had the most accredited screening sites, but were still amongst the lowest in screening rate. Approximately 85% of the screened current smokers were offered smoking cessation. Conclusions: Annual LDCT screening remains inadequate following USPSTF recommendations despite the time since implementation and potential to prevent thousands of lung cancer deaths each year. It remains unclear why the lung cancer screening rate is dramatically lower than other cancer screening modalities such as mammography and colonoscopy. Further initiatives are needed including awareness programs and mandating lung cancer screening as a national quality measure. LDCT screens performed in 2016 compared to eligible smokers per USPSTF criteria. U.S. Census Region No. of Accredited Centers Estimated Eligible Smokers LDCT Screens Rate (%) Northeast 404 1,152,141 40,105 3.5 Midwest 497 2,020,045 38,931 1.9 South 663 3,072,095 47,966 1.6 West 232 1,368,694 14,080 1.0 Total 1796 7,612,975 141,260 1.9