Lung Cancer Screening: Western Canada

Background

• Lung cancer is one of the most common cancers and is the leading cause of cancer death in Canada. (2020 Canadian Cancer Statistics) 
• Survival from lung cancer is poor. Three-year net survival for lung cancer decreased from 71% among those diagnosed at stage 1 to 5% among those diagnosed at stage 4. Approximately half of all lung cancer cases in Canada are stage 4 at diagnosis. (2020 Canadian Cancer Statistics) 
• Two clinical trials, the Dutch-Belgian screening trial (NELSON) and the United States National Lung Screening Trial (NLST), have demonstrated the value of lung cancer screening in reducing mortality rates in high-risk populations. 
• The lung cancer community across Canada is therefore united in the belief that screening programs should be implemented nationwide. 
• Lung Cancer Screening programs have been announced across Canada. The Ontario program launched in April 2021 and the program in Quebec launched in June 2021. A program in BC was announced in 2020 and will launch in the near future. Other provinces across Canada are working on developing screening programs also. 
• In this podcast series, we discuss the importance of lung cancer screening and aim to raise awareness of these programs in Canada in order to improve patient care. 

Our Guests
Dr. Stephen Lam: Professor of Medicine at the University of British Columbia and Medical Oncologist at BC Cancer. Dr. Lam is a Distinguished Scientist, and Leon Judah Blackmore Chair in Lung Cancer Research at the BC Cancer Research Center. He was the recipient of the Friesen-Rygiel Award for Outstanding Canadian Academic Discovery and the Gustav Killian Medal by the World Association of Bronchology for his pioneering contributions to the field of early lung cancer diagnosis, the Distinguished Achievement Award from the University of British Columbia and the Joseph Cullen Award for life-time scientific achievements in lung cancer prevention research by the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer. 

Dr. Rakesh Patel: General practitioner from Silverado Medical Clinic in Calgary, Alberta.

Resources
BC Press release http://www.bccancer.bc.ca/about/news-stories/news/2020/b-c-launches-lung-cancer-screening-program-%E2%80%93-the-first-in-canada

CPAC Report: https://s22457.pcdn.co/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/lung-cancer-screening-environmental-scan-2019-2020-Jan132021-EN.pdf

TO FIND A SCREENING PROGRAM NEAR YOU: https://right2survive.ca/resource-centre/screening/

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