Health economic evaluation of lung cancer screening with low-dose computed tomography
Health economic evaluation of lung cancer screening with low-dose computed tomography
Lung cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer-related death worldwide, responsible for around 1.8 million deaths each year. One of the main reasons for this high mortality is that lung cancer is often diagnosed at a late stage, when curative treatment is no longer possible. Detecting the disease earlier could significantly improve survival.
Large clinical trials have shown that screening high-risk individuals with low-dose CT scans (LDCT) can detect lung cancer at an earlier stage and reduce mortality. However, introducing such screening programs at a population level also requires substantial healthcare resources, including imaging, follow-up tests, treatment, and program organization. For policymakers, an important question is therefore whether these programs provide good value for money.
This doctoral research of Xuanqi Pan evaluates the economic value of LDCT lung cancer screening in several healthcare systems. Using a cohort-based simulation model adapted with country-specific data, the research examines cost-effectiveness in the United Kingdom, Greece, Portugal, and Hong Kong. The results show that screening high-risk populations can be a cost-effective public health strategy in these settings.
In addition, a pan-European analysis explores the potential financial impact of implementing lung cancer screening across 28 European countries. The findings suggest that large-scale screening could detect hundreds of thousands of cancers earlier and prevent many deaths, while remaining economically justifiable when targeted at high-risk groups.
Overall, this research provides evidence to support informed policy decisions about lung cancer screening and highlights the importance of health economic evaluation when introducing large-scale prevention programs.