Thread by @VCCCAlliance

#LungCancer is the leading cause of cancer death in Australia, and it has the lowest survival of the top five most common cancers. No national screening program exists. A/Prof Gavin Wright @Clavikul discussed how we implement life-saving lung #cancer policy at a national level.

2/ It also represents stark inequities. Indigenous Australians are twice as likely to be diagnosed with lung cancer, and twice as likely to die from it as their non-Indigenous counterparts. More women die from lung cancer than breast, uterine and ovarian cancer combined.

3/ Lung cancer remains a source of shame and stigma, with the well-documented transfer of blame from Big Tobacco to individual patients still wreaking havoc; lung cancer results in the most distress/anxiety/depression of the top five cancers.

4/ Treatment options have taken major steps in the last decade. In a recent trial, a quarter of patients who received chemotherapy combined with immunotherapy before surgery had *no live tumour left at surgery* (compared to an expected 1-2% of cases on chemo alone).

5/ “We found more patients got to surgery, more patients got a complete resection, and there were no increased side effects compared to just having chemotherapy alone. I think it’s going to be the future of surgery for all small lung cancers.” - A/Prof Gavin Wright @Clavikul

6/ Why we need a national lung cancer #screeningprogram:

1. Detect more cases earlier
2. Less invasive surgery
3. Less Lung removed
4. Reduced treatment cost and system load
5. Improved quality of outcomes

7/ “We predict that we would save 12,000 lung cancer deaths over the next 10 years. We’re talking about mortality reduction of over 20%, so that is why lung cancer screening is so important.” - A/Prof Gavin Wright @Clavikul

8/ But…any screening program must be co-designed with affected populations. It can be difficult to engage and earn trust, so for lung cancer, we need to facilitate ACCHO-led programs for First Nations people.

9/ There are currently 12 lung cancer care #nurses in Australia, which equates to 1000 new patients per nurse per year. Nurse specialists are the glue that binds the multidisciplinary team, which is so important for treating complex cancer.

10/ In fact, specialist nurse involvement *can impact survival*. A recent study of over 100,000 patients found improved survival if assessed by a lung cancer specialist nurse.

11/ There will be around 168,000 Australians diagnosed with lung cancer over the next 10 years, and it will continue to be the leading cause of death for some time. That’s why a national screening program, more lung cancer nurses and better, bigger data are so crucial.

12/ Thanks to our R&E Lead, Lung Cancer, A/Prof Gavin Wright @Clavikul for presenting today’s Monday Lunch Livestream, and a special thanks to Mark Brooke, Lung Foundation Australia CEO for chairing the session 👏👏 @StVincentsMelb @Lungfoundation @tsanz_thoracic @markbrooke68