A lung cancer screening program, including 20,000 smokers and ex-smokers between 50 and 74 years old, is organized by the National Cancer Institute in order to assess the profits and perhaps, in the long term, set up The same type of prevention on a national scale.
- The National Cancer Institute is launching a pilot screening program for lung cancer for 20,000 smokers and ex-smokers.
- The objective is to assess the efficiency of screening and reduce mortality related to this cancer.
- If the results are positive, national screening could be implemented by 2030.
“” “Each year, we let a number of people die by not setting up this screening“National, said Fabrice Barlesi, Managing Director of the Gustave Roussy Institute. So, to test the impact of such a device, a pilot project named impulse was launched.
A screening program for smokers and former smokers
It is a lung cancer screening program, set up and funded by the National Cancer Institute. The objective is to assess the benefits of such prevention to envisage its national and generalized deployment, as is already the case for colon, cervix or breast cancers.
“” “This research program is an essential step towards the generalization of a screening program for lung cancers in our country, said Professor Norbert Ifrah, president of the National Cancer Institute last July in a press release. Too often detected at an advanced stage, this cancer kills 30,400 of our fellow citizens each year.»
The call for candidateslaunched in 2024, made it possible to recruit 20,000 participants, aged 50 to 74. To be included, they were to be smokers or former smokers – whose smoking stop dates back to less than 15 years – at least one pack per day for a year.
For a maximum of 60 months, participants will have to pass chest scanners at low doses of shelves. During the first two years, they will spend one per year, then one every two years. “” “We hope that the first scanners will be made at the start of the second half of 2025“Said Professor Norbert Ifrah, to AFP. To do these exams, there should be centers associated with the system in each region. In parallel, smoking withdrawal will also be offered to participants.
Detection reduces the risk of death -related deaths of lung cancer
“” “We still have to answer many questions that will allow us to develop the most effective and surest screening as possible for the asymptomatic populations to which it is addressed, underlines Professor Norbert Ifrah. And this research program will help us. As we know, tobacco is the number 1 enemy of this cancer; If screening can allow us to identify the disease at an earlier stage, smoking stop remains the best weapon to fight against the many cancers it induces.»
Currently, lung cancer is not systematically detected because the health authorities fear a risk of overdiagnosis of tumors. If it is true that not all of them are in cancer, several studies have shown that generalized screening for lung cancer reduced the risk of death by around 20 to 25 %.
Depending on the results of this pilot project, screening may soon be implemented nationally. “” “We can reasonably hope for a generalization before even the 2030 ”horizon”says Professor Norbert Ifrah.