We have seen a series of positive steps forward. These include the recommendation made by the Council of the European Union in 2022, encouraging member countries to consider implementing lung cancer screening,6 and the launch of the EU-funded multinational project SOLACE, which aims to increase lung cancer screening by addressing bottlenecks and ensuring people across all social and economic groups can access it.7 Despite this progress, we are still a long way from the ambition of equity in access to lung cancer screening for every person in Europe who is at high risk.
We therefore believe that the adoption of lung cancer screening should be a key area of focus for politicians and policymakers across Europe, a commitment they should make to the people they serve — or hope to serve — after the next election cycle.
We therefore believe that the adoption of lung cancer screening should be a key area of focus for politicians and policymakers across Europe.
The pilots and programs implemented so far present opportunities to learn about the practical challenges involved in screening, as well as best practice in overcoming them. AstraZeneca and Vision Zero Cancer are keen to support this exchange of knowledge by supporting the Lung Cancer Policy Network, as well as other initiatives. For example, AstraZeneca organised a meeting in late 2023 to explore learnings from the experience in England, where more than one million people have now been invited for a low-dose CT scan to check their lung health.8 Many of the lung screening sites are mobile scan units based in the community at locations such as supermarket car parks.3
Many of the lung screening sites are mobile scan units based in the community.
It was clear from the discussions that the full potential of lung cancer screening will only be realized if there is close collaboration between a wide range of stakeholders — politicians, policymakers, clinicians, service managers, academics, patient organizations, industry and members of the public all have roles to play to deliver a step change in lung cancer outcomes.
AstraZeneca and Vision Zero Cancer are committed to continue working with partners from across the cancer community to unlock progress on lung cancer screening in Europe, inspiring and empowering stakeholders to drive forward the case for change and action.
Together, we hope to secure commitments for, and implementation of, lung screening programs in more countries, delivering progress on our shared goal to reduce deaths from lung cancer in Europe.
