Joint recommendations for Austria

The position paper defines key recommendations for the implementation of quality-assured, risk-adapted lung cancer screening. The four professional societies are in favour of a step-by-step implementation with pilot phases and central evaluation. The scientific evidence shows that examination using low-dose computed tomography (LDCT) can detect lung cancer earlier and reduce lung cancer mortality.

LEAD provides Austrian data for risk stratification

A central basis for Austrian planning is data from the LEAD study, the Austrian long-term study on lung health with more than 15,000 participants. The cohort was used to identify the population group that meets the high-risk criteria for lung cancer screening. Among other things, the PLCOall2014 risk model was used, which takes into account other risk factors in addition to smoking behavior.
The analyses of the LEAD study show that a large number of people in Austria could be eligible for risk-adapted screening. For the age group of 50 to 75 years, a potential high-risk group of around 273,000 people is estimated.

From long-term research to concrete prevention

The participation of our institute director, Marie-Kathrin Breyer, as co-author of the position paper exemplifies the LBI’s claim to translate scientific findings into concrete improvements for the health of the population. The data from the LEAD study create an important Austrian evidence base for the discussion and planning of a national lung cancer screening.