Awareness and commitment are key to early detection of lung cancer

Lung cancer is the leading cause of death¹, and in Catalonia alone it affects more than 4,000 people every year, and this figure could be even higher². But it’s not all bad news. On November 15, specialists in this disease met in Barcelona to discuss the latest achievements and problems in the early detection of this oncological pathology. This conference, entitled “Awareness and Commitment: Together Against Lung Cancer”, organized by Roche, brought together specialists in the diagnosis, treatment and care planning of the disease, oncologists, pulmonologists, radiologists, surgeons, managers, patient associations…

Juan Carlos Trujillo, head of the thoracic surgery service at the Santa Creu i Sant Pau Hospital / Hospital del Mar, recalled that “lung cancer is the lung cancer that kills the most in Spain”, but also noted that it is not This is a country-specific characteristic, but it is a statistic that is reflected throughout the world³. Trujillo also wanted to emphasize that “we can improve diagnosis and treatment” to improve patients’ quality of life and survival. Finally, the director of thoracic surgery wanted to appeal to his fellow professionals to continue to delve into the problems of multidisciplinary work, as “there are still areas for improvement.”

To know the profile of people suffering from lung cancer, we must use data such as that of the Ministry of Health of the Generalitat. According to the report “Cancer Statistics in Catalonia 2023”, the incidence of this disease is higher among men over 69 years of age: of the 3,739 cases diagnosed last year in male patients, 53.3% correspond to this age group. The incidence among women, according to the above-mentioned report, was 1245, of whom 44.4% were over 69 years of age. Similarly, the Catalan Cancer Plan 2022-2026 states that new diagnoses among the female population are expected to increase by 27.3% next year due to an increase in smoking. At the same time, the increase in pathology among men will be 13.3%.

There are two main types of lung cancer: non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and small cell lung cancer (SCLC). The first is the most common, accounting for 85% of cases⁴. Moreover, today about half of people in the early stages experience relapse after surgery despite adjuvant chemotherapy⁵. This relapse can be further reduced with currently available treatments such as immunotherapy⁶.

The roundtable conference, Awareness and Commitment: Together Against Lung Cancer, also explored the future of treatment for the disease. Edurne Arriola, head of the Department of Thoracic and Genitourinary Tumors at the Del Mar Hospital in Barcelona, ​​emphasized that “lung cancer is an extremely complex disease that requires a comprehensive and interdisciplinary approach.” Arriola also brought up smoking, a common suspect in lung cancer. The head of the Del Mar hospital recalled that this disease “creates serious problems that cannot be solved within one medical field. We need active collaboration between the various specialists involved in this process in order to be able to offer patients personalized treatment.”

Another noteworthy table at the event was the one that focused on perspectives on healthcare management and planning. Here, patients expressed their views through the president of the Spanish Association of Lung Cancer Patients (AEACaP), Bernard Gaspar, who defined the role that patients want: “We don’t just want to be at the center of the process, we want to be involved in decision-making and have our opinion taken into account.” Gaspar also noted that to guarantee participation in decision-making, “we need to be trained to participate in this process, and this is what we ask the Spanish Medicines and Health Products Agency.” The head of AEACaP noted that all these actions and decisions should be aimed at ensuring that patients “live a long and high-quality life.”

The day ended with some insights from Federico Plaza, Director of Corporate Communications at Roche Spain. The Roche manager concluded by recalling that prevention is “hyper-effective” and that, at a time when there is so much controversy surrounding the healthcare system, he recalled that it is “very adaptive”, having overcome difficulties in the past and with the will of Various actors can make important advances in the fight against lung cancer.

Links

(1) Spanish Society of Medical Oncology (SEOM). Cancer figures in Spain. 2024. https://www.seom.org/images/LAS_CIFRAS_2024.pdf (last accessed November 2024).

(2) Generalitat of Catalonia. Department of Health. Catalonia Cancer Plan 2022-2026. Available at: https://scientiasalut.gencat.cat/bitstream/handle/11351/9855/pla_contra_cancer_catalunya_2022_2026_cas.pdf?sequence=14&isAllowed=y. Last accessed November 2024

(3) Tandra K.S. and others. Epidemiology of lung cancer. Contemplation Oncol. 2021;21(1):45-52.

(4) American Cancer Society: What is lung cancer? Available at: https://www.cancer.org/cancer/non-small-cell-lung-cancer/about/what-is-non-small-cell-lung-cancer.html (last accessed November 2024 .).

(5) Pinion J.P. et al. Evaluation of pulmonary adjuvant cisplatin: a pooled analysis of the LACE Collaborative Group. J Clin Oncol. 2008. 20;26(21):3552-9.

(6) Wu YL et al. Alectinib for resected ALK-positive non-small cell lung cancer. N Engl J Med. April 11, 2024; 390 (14): 1265-1276. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa2310532. PMID: 38598794.