Radon RESEARCH Series
TO LEARN MORE , VISIT : evictradon . org
Breaking Barriers : Expanding Lung Cancer Screening Inclusivity
Lung cancer screening will soon play a pivotal role in early diagnosis that will enable more effective treatment options and potentially life-saving outcomes . To determine who needs to be screened , an individual ’ s risk of lung cancer must be over a certain threshold . At this time , these risk assessments can only be done effectively for people who are substantial tobacco smokers - or roughly 3 of 5 people who will be diagnosed with lung cancer in their life .
The major challenge is to assess the personalized risk of lung cancer for those additional 2 of 5 people who will get lung cancer in the future . Of these two , one will have smoked tobacco so little or so long ago that their tumours do not display tobacco exposure gene mutation signatures , and the other who has never smoked tobacco ever . Current screening practices disadvantage light- and never-tobacco smokers , and we need to find new ways to reliably measure their lung cancer risk based on other causes of lung cancer such as exposure to radon , arsenic , air pollution , and more .
To address this , Canadian cancer researchers , backed by $ 5.1 million from the Canadian Cancer Society , are developing innovative tools for assessing lifetime radon , arsenic , and air pollution exposure . The Evict Radon National Study team is a key part of this project and will engage with thousands of Canadians in a clinical trial examining how measuring radon decay products present in toenails can be used to assess long-term exposure ( and thus the risk of lung cancer ).
Our five-year project aims to establish sufficient evidence that will advocate for the inclusion of everyone who needs screening to access early lung cancer detection programs . Our groundbreaking initiative seeks to dismantle current barriers , promote a more inclusive approach , enhance existing early detection strategies , and improve health outcomes for a broader segment of the population . More information regarding our upcoming clinical trials will be released in 2024 .
THIS WORK IS BEING FUNDED BY :