Latest news with #LungFoundationAustralia
Medscape
4 days ago
- Health
- Medscape
Australia Launches Lung Cancer Screening Program for Smokers
Australia has launched a government-funded lung cancer screening program that provides biennial low-dose CT scans to patients who are either current heavy smokers or who have quit in the past decade. The screening program is a 'game-changer' for Australia, Lucy Morgan, MD, PhD, respiratory physician at Concord and Nepean Hospitals in Sydney, told Medscape Medical News. 'This [program] gives us the opportunity to offer cure to people who would otherwise develop Australia's most deadly cancer.' Morgan is also chair of the Lung Foundation Australia and a member of the screening program's expert advisory committee. Early Diagnosis Crucial Shalini Vinod, MD Lung cancer is the fifth most diagnosed cancer in Australia and the most common cause of cancer death, claiming around 9000 lives per year. Survival rates for lung cancer (around one quarter of those diagnosed survive for 5 years) are far below those of more common cancers, including breast cancer, which has a 5-year survival rate of above 90%, and colorectal cancer, which has a 5-year survival rate of above 70%. The reason for the low survival rate of lung cancer is that by the time it is symptomatic, it's often advanced, said Shalini Vinod, MD, radiation oncologist at the University of New South Wales Sydney. 'Approximately in half the cases that I pick up, the cancer has spread beyond the lungs and so is incurable,' said Vinod, who is on the expert advisory committee for the program. Lung cancers that are detected early, before they have spread, have a much better prognosis and better treatment options, Vinod said. The most common approach for early lung cancer is surgery to remove the tumour or radiotherapy. 'If they're 2 centimetres or less, they're eligible for minimally invasive surgery…where rather than taking a whole lobe of the lung out, you can just take a part of the lobe with equivalent outcomes,' she told Medscape Medical News . The program, which was launched on July 1, is recruiting smokers aged 50-70 years who currently smoke or have quit in the past 10 years and have a smoking history of at least 30 pack-years. Henry Marshall, MD, PhD Only a handful of countries worldwide, including the United States, the United Kingdom, South Korea, Taiwan, and Canada, have national or regional lung cancer screening programs, which all vary slightly in the choice of screening interval, age range, and smoking history. For example, the US Preventive Services Task Force recommends yearly screening. The choice of 2-yearly screening was an effort to balance cost and benefit, said Henry Marshall, MD, PhD, a thoracic physician at the Prince Charles Hospital and University of Queensland Thoracic Research Centre in Brisbane. 'It's as effective in terms of its health benefit, but of course a lot cheaper because you're immediately halving the number of scans that you need to do,' said Marshall, who is also a member of the screening program expert advisory committee. Australia's Unique Challenges Australia faces unique challenges in implementing a national screening program like this one. The first is that lung cancer is the most diagnosed cancer and the most common cause of cancer death among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, with incidence and mortality rates around twice those of non-Aboriginal Australians. 'Some of it is about living in rural and remote Australia, some of it is about smoking rates, some of it is probably about genetic predisposition; we don't understand that completely,' said Morgan. 'And much of it is about access to health care.' To address this disparity, the program was developed in partnership with the Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation sector and First Nations people to ensure that the design and implementation was community-led and culturally appropriate and that the information and education materials were tailored to the community. The program includes a mobile CT screening service to reach Australians in rural and remote areas because 'there are millions of Australians living more than four hours away from a CT scanner,' said Morgan. Five mobile screening trucks will be deployed around the country beginning in November this year. Participants must be initially referred for screening by their general practitioner (GP). If anything is detected on CT, they are then referred to another clinician according to a nodule management protocol that was developed specifically for the program. The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners has expressed concern about the potential increased workload for GPs, particularly those in areas of socioeconomic disadvantage, where greater numbers of patients are likely to have histories of heavy smoking and therefore be eligible for screening. The program will also lead to increased pressure on radiology and cardiothoracic surgery services in Australia, Vinod said, but another concern is whether smokers will actually sign up for the program. Uptake for breast cancer screening in Australia is around 50%, and uptake for bowel cancer screening is around 40%. 'If you just benchmark it against those, this is going to be tough because this is a cancer where there is a lot of stigma,' Vinod said.
Mercury
30-06-2025
- Health
- Mercury
Free lung cancer checks to give Aussies a fighting chance
Don't miss out on the headlines from Cancer. Followed categories will be added to My News. Australia's first new national cancer screening program in almost two decades kicks off this week. From July 1, Australians with a high risk of developing lung cancer can be screened for the disease free of charge. Lung cancer is the fifth most common cancer and the leading cause of cancer death in Australia. The National Lung Cancer Screening Program (NLCSP) will offer low-dose computed tomography (CT) scans to people aged 50-70 years who smoke or have a history of smoking and who don't have the symptoms or signs of lung cancer. One of the major challenges with treating lung cancer is that by the time patients present with symptoms, the disease is often at an advanced stage. Early diagnosis means greater treatment options and a higher chance they will be effective. It is estimated there were more than 15,000 new cases and nearly 9,000 deaths from lung cancer in Australia in 2024. The $260 million screening program, which is expected to save hundreds of lives a year. Mark Brooke, CEO of the Lung Foundation of Australia said the NLCSP was a transformative leap forward in ending the stigma and inequality that existed for lung cancer in Australia. 'It gives us hope that lung cancer can be diagnosed earlier offering patients more choice in treatment options and the chance to live well for longer,' he said. 'Lung Foundation Australia will continue to focus on supporting people at risk of lung cancer particularly those facing stigma and in priority populations, to ensure the gold standard of care is available to all Australians.' People wanting to access the screening will need to meet the following eligibility criteria: •Aged between 50 and 70 years. •Show no signs or symptoms suggesting you may have lung cancer. •Currently smoke or have quit smoking in the past 10 years. •Have a history of tobacco cigarette smoking of at least 30 pack-years. The patient's healthcare provider assists patients in determining whether they meet these criteria and will also assess whether the patient is suitable for screening based on specific criteria, which may be temporary, for example, being able to lie down flat to complete a CT scan. The healthcare provider is most likely to be a general practitioner (GP) or a health worker at an Aboriginal Health Service. 'Pack-year' calculations are made by multiplying the number of cigarette packs smoked per day by the number of years the person has smoked. For example, one pack-year is equal to smoking 20 cigarettes (one pack) per day for one year, or 40 cigarettes per day for six months. Once the patient has agreed to participate in the lung screen, the healthcare provider will make a referral for a low-dose CT scan. The scan requires the patient to lay on a table with their arms above their head while the machine takes images of their chest. The procedure takes about 10 to 15 minutes and does not involve any needles. For rural and remote communities that don't have access to radiology clinics, from November mobile lung cancer screening trucks using world-first technology will take mobile CT services directly to eligible patients nationally. The healthcare provider will receive scan results, and the National Cancer Screening Register (NCSR) will send patients a text message, email or letter (depending on the patient's registered communication preference) about what to do next. Full details about the program and eligibility are available are available here. Originally published as Free lung cancer checks to give Aussies a fighting chance
7NEWS
12-06-2025
- Health
- 7NEWS
Aussie grandmother diagnosed on her birthday with lung cancer, the same disease that killed husband
A grandmother has been diagnosed on her birthday with the same cancer that killed her husband 18 years ago. Jenny Egan was delivered the shocking news that a large mass had been found on her lung on May 7, when she was meant to be celebrating turning 64. Egan, from Fishing Point in NSW, is now preparing to begin treatment for stage four lung cancer which has grown onto her chest wall and spread into her adrenal gland. 'I was just crying. I was devastated for my kids having to go through this again,' Egan told of the moment she learned her life had been turned upside down. '(My husband) was given 12 months and that's how long he lived.' Egan, a patient transfer officer with State Medical Assistance, set an appointment with a doctor when she started feeling serious chest pain whenever she coughed, laughed or would lie down. But she almost cancelled the booking on the day because, by then, the pain had subsided. Going to the appointment, she had tests and less than 24 hours later — on her birthday — she was hauled back in to hear the shocking news. 'I was thinking 'oh my God. How can I have lung cancer?' There's no pain and I didn't feel any different to how I have always felt,' she said. Doctors told her the cancer could not be surgically removed. She will begin radiation for the metastatic lesion on her adrenal gland next week, followed by chemotherapy and radiation to her lung. Her daughter, Brittney Egan, said the treatment 'will hopefully extend her chances of being with us for a little while longer, but with her strength, we are hoping for more'. 'We are so thankful on where things are today with treatments because 15 years ago the doctors would have palliated (Egan) and not given her very long left with us,' she said. 'It's going to take me' Egan, a grandmother-to-two and mother-of-two, said she will continue to fight. 'It is going to take me but I don't know when. I don't know much time I have,' she said. 'I'm on a bit of a rollercoaster ride — laughing one moment and then in a ball crying the next. 'I'm not giving up. I've been knocked down a thousand times before but I will not give up.' Egan told her health blow comes after she was the victim of a scam last year that left the fiercely independent grandmother unable to dip into her super or savings to cover mounting out-of-pocket costs. Loved ones and strangers have chipped in generously via a GoFundMe to help with medical and living expenses. Egan said she was 'overwhelmed' by those offering to help in her time of need. National Lung Cancer Screening Program Lung cancer is among the most common cancers in Australian men and women, with more than 15,000 cases diagnosed in 2024. It is Australia's deadliest cancer, with more than 9000 deaths attributed to lung cancer in 2022. The Lung Foundation Australia is hopeful a National Lung Cancer Screening Program being launched in July will help detect cases earlier, when treatment is most effective. The program aims to save 12,000 lives over the next decade by using CT scans to look for lung cancer in high-risk people without any symptoms. 'There's hope that the tide will turn and it will be far more common that people will be diagnosed at earlier stages of the disease like other common cancers in Australia, giving people better treatment options and the opportunity to live well for longer,' Lung Foundation Australia chief executive Mark Brooke told To be eligible for the program, you need to be between 50 and 70 years of age and have a history of cigarette smoking.
Sky News AU
31-05-2025
- Health
- Sky News AU
'Nicotine is addictive as heroin': Lung Foundation Australia calls for crackdown on sale of cigarettes at supermarkets
Australia's leading body for lung health is pushing the government to ban the sale of cigarettes from the nation's big supermarkets, in a bid to put health before profits. Lung Foundation Australia CEO Mark Brooke has claimed it is "irresponsible" to allow people to purchase cigarettes with their milk and bread during weekly grocery shops. 'We need everyone from government to big corporations to put the lung health of Australians ahead of profits from a product that kills 66 Australians daily,' he said. 'Previous news reports have highlighted Coles estimates their cigarette sales each year is enough to kill more than 1,600 Australians and cause tobacco-related medical costs of more than $300 million a year." Former tobacco addict Sarah Waters also joined the crackdown and shared she had been a smoker for 28 years, starting at the age of 13. Ms Waters attributed her long-term addiction to the lack of restrictions prohibiting the sale of tobacco to underage people. 'It isn't easy to quit but not being able to buy cigarettes so easily would have made a big difference," she said. "When I started smoking there was no age limits in place and they were marketed to young people as being cool." Lung Foundation Australia has urged the government to restrict the number of tobacco retail outlets via their tobacco licensing schemes. A new tobacco licensing scheme is set to take effect across New South Wales from July 1, requiring all tobacco retailers and wholesalers to have a license to sell tobacco and non-tobacco smoking products in the state. In NSW it is also illegal for any retailers other than a pharmacy to sell any type of vaping good, regardless of its nicotine content. "The federal government can support broader efforts by investigating the health and economic impacts of a generational phase out of tobacco products," Lung Foundation Australia said. Associate Professor Henry Marshall compared nicotine addition to the same as heroine and suggested the only difference between the two, is the latter cannot be bought at a supermarket. 'People who smoke deserve more help from health professionals and the government. I would like to see people demand action from the multinational tobacco companies who have known smoking causes lung cancer since before 1954 and continued to sell products to make profit off Australians," he said. "It is time we said, 'enough is enough'. 'It is hard to fight an addiction while also being able to buy tobacco products so easily.'
