New research from the Daffodil Centre, a joint venture between Cancer Council NSW and the University of Sydney, shows how many people will be eligible for the program when it is launched in July 2025.
What is the ³Ô¹ÏÍøÕ¾ Lung Cancer Screening Program?
In May 2023, the Australian Government announced they will fund a $264million ³Ô¹ÏÍøÕ¾ Lung Cancer Screening Program for at risk Australians and it is set to commence next year. The program could be a gamechanger for cancer outcomes and has positioned Australia to become a global leader in lung cancer screening, saving thousands more lives.
“Clinical trials have shown that screening can save lives in significant numbers through earlier diagnosis,” says Associate Professor Marianne Weber from the Daffodil Centre.
A targeted approach
The program will be targeted at individuals aged 50-70 years with a cigarette smoking history equivalent to 20 cigarettes per day for 30 years, and either currently smoke or have quit within the past ten years.
Estimating the number of people who will qualify for lung cancer screening is important for understanding the impact of screening on resource use and for program evaluation over time. Since there is currently no comprehensive collection of data on smoking behaviours at a population level, the Daffodil Centre has estimated the number of people eligible for the program over the first five years using data from a national health survey.
Of the Australian population, how many of us will be eligible for the ³Ô¹ÏÍøÕ¾ Lung Cancer Screening Program?
The new research from the Daffodil Centre shows that between 13% – 14% of the Australian population (aged 50-70 years) are estimated to meet the ³Ô¹ÏÍøÕ¾ Lung Cancer Screening Program age and smoking criteria over the first five years of the program. That is almost 931,000 individuals that will be able to take part as of 1 July 2025.
Eligible individuals will be able to access a free low dose CT scan of the chest every 2 years to check for early signs of lung cancer. Learn more about the ³Ô¹ÏÍøÕ¾ Lung Cancer Screening Program here.
“Currently, the five-year survival rate at stage one lung cancer is around 70% while stage four survival is below 5%. Without screening, only 12% of cases are diagnosed at stage one,” says Associate Professor Weber. “Lung cancer screening, targeted at those at high risk, could save thousands more lives.”
