Cancer Screening Smoking Cessation AND Respiratory Assessment

Lung Cancer Screening Pilot Programme: Cancer Screening Smoking Cessation AND Respiratory Assessment

The CASSANDRA project (Cancer Screening, Smoking Cessation, AND Respiratory Assessment) is a project led by SEPAR whose main coordinators are Dr. Luis Seijo, a pulmonologist at the Clínica Universitaria de Navarra, and Dr. Juan Carlos Trujillo-Reyes, a thoracic surgeon at the Hospital de la Santa Creu I Sant Pau and Coordinator of the Thoracic Oncology Area, in addition to the collaboration of a large number of professionals with expertise in lung cancer screening.

Despite its proven efficacy, Spain does not yet have a unified lung cancer screening protocol. The aim of the CASSANDRA project is to initiate a national screening program that can join forces with existing smoking cessation programs in Spain, which have proven to be insufficient in reducing the number of people affected by lung cancer.

CASSANDRA aims to analyze the feasibility of implementing a lung cancer screening program in Spain implemented in the public health system and carry out a cost-effectiveness analysis

CASSANDRA aims to be the first lung cancer screening pilot project in Spain. A project to assess the feasibility of implementation as well as to look for models that allow a better selection of the cases to be screened.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Age 50-75 years active smoker with cumulative dose of >20 packets/year
• Age 50-75 years ex-smoker less than 15 years old with cumulative dose of > 20 packets/year

Exclusion Criteria:

• Pre-existing or new-onset comorbidities that, in the opinion of the coordinator, prevent surgical resection if lung cancer is found on low dose computed tomography (LDCT) scan, for example, severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) with forced expiratory volume at one second (FEV1) < 30%.
• Inability to sign the informed consent or collaborate with the CT scan.
• Performing a chest CT for any reason in the previous year or planned CT for any reason in the next 3 months.
• Subjects with a history of any cancer (except non-melanoma skin cancer) in the 5 years prior to inclusion in the screening program.