How lung cancer screening will make a difference

Discover how early detection and intelligent solutions can fundamentally improve lung cancer care.

Challenges in lung cancer

Lung cancer has the highest mortality rate of all cancers and one of the worst five year survival rates of all cancers at 17% for men and 22% for women.[1] It is the deadliest cancer for men worldwide, the second deadliest for women. [2] What makes lung cancer so deadly is that the symptoms are non-specific, and patients often only come to the clinic when tumors have exceeded a critical size or when cancer cells have attacked the lymph nodes or have metastasized. 

Early detection in lung cancer

Mobile lung cancer checks in car parks

Interview: Lung cancer does not have to be a death sentence

European lung cancer initiative

The only chance of a cure is to diagnose lung cancer as early as possible. Early detection and the introduction of screening programs have the potential to fundamentally improve lung cancer healthcare. Although treatment for advanced tumor stages, such as immunotherapy, works well, it is also very expensive and a significant burden for the healthcare system. The cost per life saved by a screening program is therefore much lower.

Lung Cancer Screening Stage Shift

Barbara Baysal from the German Self-Help Lung Cancer Association (Bundesverband Selbsthilfe Lungenkrebs e.V.)

Compared to breast cancer screening, lung cancer screening still shows a significant difference: in mammography screening, all women over 50 are invited to breast cancer screening. In lung screening, the screening is more targeted. In the US, people aged 50 to 80 years who have a 20 pack-year smoking history and currently smoke or have quit within the past 15 years are usually invited. "Pack years" are calculated by multiplying the number of packs of cigarettes smoked per day by the number of years the person has smoked. The individual guidelines may vary by country.

 Prof. Dr. Jens Vogel-Claussen, head of the HANSE study

Therapy

Treatment of lung cancer

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Taiwan patient survived lung cancer

A hybrid approach to minimally invasive surgery

Redefining computed tomography

Depending on the stage and cancer type, the treatment could be surgery, chemo, radiation or immunotherapy. With the introduction of lung cancer screening, more cases are expected to be discovered in an earlier stage. Therefore, the current therapy mix of surgery, radiation therapy and chemotherapy will probably change to less invasive methods where imaging might also play a bigger role. Key-hole surgery, stereotactic radiation therapy and local ablation techniques and combinations may become more important.


A profound understanding of the facetted characteristics and behavior of a tumor demands deep and integrated knowledge among clinical experts collaborating in interdisciplinary teams.
While it is already a challenge to optimize the treatment mix and sequence for each patient, by strategically combining advanced imaging, IT and laboratory applications, lung cancer management can be improved.

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in Taiwan. Young non-smoking women are - surprisingly - a group in Asia that is strongly affected by lung cancer. Ming Zhang is one of them. She has benefited not only from an early diagnosis of lung nodules, but also from a minimally invasive procedure that can locate and remove tumors in a single step. 

Chi Mei Medical Center, located in the city of Tainan, Taiwan, is able to combine intraoperative large-volume 3D imaging and guidance followed by minimally invasive resection, biopsy, or ablation. Installed in a hybrid OR, ARTIS pheno offers a one-stop workflow for the resection of small pulmonary nodules. Yao Fong, Head of Thoracic Surgery, says that the high-end robotic imaging system has allowed him and his team to improve lung cancer therapies and develop new treatment approaches. 

With photon-counting CT, Siemens Healthineers developed a radically new technology for clinical routines: computed tomography can be used to detect tissue changes in the lungs.

Noona® is a patient outcome management solution designed to engage patients in their care with real-time symptom reporting and monitoring, streamlined clinical workflows to promote evidence-based care and access to rich data insights for better management and ongoing assessment over the course of care.

Outlook on lung cancer care

The future of cancer care 

Video: Vision for cancer care

Podcast: Digital twin in cancer care

Learn how the digital twin of the patient could lead to early detection of cancer in the future using AI technology and medical expertise. Health data integration could enable personalized care even before hospitalization to achieve the best possible patient-reported outcomes.

A possible future of intelligent cancer care is demonstrated to expand the frontier in oncology.

Digital twins in cancer care
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Digital twins in cancer care
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Find out how digital twins could transform the entire cancer care path – from early detection to treatment and follow-up care. You’ll also learn how a digital twin of an organ is created. And you’ll hear what digital twin technology could mean for patients, clinicians, and the future of oncology.