They ask to reduce pollution due to rising incidence of lung cancer

Medical societies, patients and other organizations in the Lung Ambition Alliance, which works to survive lung cancer, are calling for public policies to reduce pollution as a risk factor that increases the incidence of this tumor and causes a 9% fatality rate. outcomes.

Barcelona under a cloud of pollution, December 2023. EFE/Quique García.

“There is growing evidence that, at certain levels of particulate matter, pollution may be a contributing agent to the development of this type of tumor, even in nonsmokers,” they noted after celebrating the lung cancer alliance’s fourth edition of Together Now.

Currently, lung cancer is the second type of tumor with the highest incidence in the world and the first in mortality. It is estimated that every 20 minutes a person dies from this disease.

According to the report “Cancer Numbers in 2024” by the Spanish Society of Medical Oncology, in Spain the estimated number of lung disease cases this year will be 32,768.

Screening to reduce mortality

Public health policies with preventive measures such as pollution control must be complemented by screening programs that detect lung cancer at an early stage to improve survival rates and which are currently not being implemented in the country, experts say. public health system.

For a patient diagnosed with stage IA, the five-year survival rate may exceed 90%, while for stage IV it may be less than 10%. Therefore, early diagnosis is very important for lung cancer patients, notes the Lung Ambition Alliance.

According to various studies mentioned in the statement, lung cancer screening can reduce overall mortality by 6.7–20% and lung cancer-related mortality by 20–39%.

The CASSANDRA (Cancer Screening, Smoking Cessation and Respiratory Assessment) project, which is being tested in selected hospital centers, aims to demonstrate the viability, feasibility and cost-effectiveness of these programs for lung cancer in Spain.

To achieve this goal, the program combines primary prevention through smoking cessation and secondary prevention with screening programs using low-dose radiation computed tomography for smokers and ex-smokers who meet inclusion criteria.

It is an initiative promoted by the Spanish Society of Pulmonology and Thoracic Surgery (SEPAR), in which 39 hospitals and primary health care centers from 16 autonomous communities participate.

Tobacco control

Reducing tobacco consumption among the population is another priority preventive measure, since smoking is responsible for 90% of lung cancer cases.

Laureano MolinsNational Coordinator of the Lung Ambition Alliance and Consultant of the Thoracic Surgery Service of the Hospital Clinic of Barcelona, ​​explains that 80% of lung cancer cases are diagnosed at advanced stages, more than half at stage IV, which limits treatment options. care.

“We call on the administrations,” he points out, “to begin implementing all preventive measures that will allow us to combat the risk factors, mainly tobacco and its new forms of sale or pollution, and to identify these tumors as quickly as possible. possible through screening, which has been widely demonstrated.”

The event featured the presentation of Guidelines for Developing an Integrated Lung Cancer Care Process, a guide from the Lung Ambition Alliance that aims to improve and unify the care patients receive, providing an integrated approach from diagnosis to treatment.