Pulmonologists in Cancer Care

The role of the oncologist is essential to the design, operation, development and associate research of lung cancer screening programs.

The Lung Cancer Screening Implementation Guide was a product of collaboration among 25 experts from 16 institutions. But it was also a product of both the successes and failures of lung cancer screening programs before it.

Through detailing past programs and discussing how they've each addressed their own challenges, the American Thoracic Society and the American Lung Association's new lung cancer screening guide can help clinicians design, implement, conduct, and streamline lung cancer screening programs.

Screening high-risk individuals for lung cancer with low-dose tomography is an effective and recommended approach for reducing mortality from the condition. That said, planning a lung cancer screening program can be challenging, as a successful program requires strategic multidisciplinary.

The new online lung cancer screening (LCS) guide from the American Lung Association and the American Thoracic Society sets a clear pathway for physicians to surveil patients and provide follow-up from many institutions across the United States.

The structure of lung cancer screening programs in the United States vary by resource availability, provider expertise, type of institution, and interests of the organization. Often these programs are developed through the reorganization of preexisting multidisciplinary models that have been providing services related to lung cancer.

Lung cancer screening requires multidisciplinary collaboration between radiologists, the multidisciplinary team, primary care providers, nurses, patients, and approved registries. Therefore, it is essential to use a structured reporting system to facilitate accurate communication of results.

For clinicians who see patients at risk of developing lung cancer, a new guide on the implementation of lung cancer screening programs has been developed by a panel of experts from the American Lung Association and the American Thoracic Society.