Eligibility for lung cancer screening did not differ significantly among people who self-reported as Indigenous. These findings were published in Cancer.

The common lung cancer screening approaches, the United States Preventive Services Task Force 2013 (USPSTF2013) and 2021 (USPSTF2021) criteria and the Prostate, Lung, Colorectal, and Ovarian model 2012 (PLCOm2012) in its entirety and with race removed (PLCOm2012noRace), are used to determine which patients are eligible for lung cancer screening.

Patients (N=1565) who had lung cancer between 2010 and 2019 at the Monument Health Cancer Care Institute in South Dakota were evaluated for lung cancer screening eligibility using the USPSTF2013, USPSTF2021, PLCOm2012, and PLCOm2012noRace criteria.

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The study population was mean 70.4 (SD, 10.0) years at lung cancer diagnosis and 51.8% were men. A total of 198 patients self-reported as Indigenous. The Indigenous people were younger (P =.003), more were women (P =.033), they had a lower body mass index (BMI; P <.001), more were current smokers (P =.001), and had a longer duration of smoking (P =.039) compared with the non-Indigenous people.

Sensitivities of the USPSTF2013 (60.1% vs 57.7%; P =.539), PLCOm2012noRace using a cutoff of 1.7% (81.8% vs 82.1%; P =.921), USPSTF2021 (71.7% vs 65.3%; P =.078), and PLCOm2012noRace using a cutoff of 1.0% (86.9% vs 90.0%; P =.170) criteria did not differ significantly between the Indigenous and non-Indigenous populations.

The sensitivities of PLCOm2012 using cutoffs of 1.7% (90.9% vs 82.3%; P =.002) and 1.0% (95.5% vs 90.0%; P =.012) were significantly higher for the Indigenous population than the non-Indigenous population.

The major limitation of this study was its sample size.

“USPSTF criteria did not appear to discriminate regarding the eligibility of self‐reported Indigenous people compared with non‐Indigenous people for lung cancer screening. The PLCOm2012noRace model was similarly sensitive in identifying self‐reported Indigenous and non‐Indigenous individuals with lung cancer as eligible for screening,” the study authors concluded.

Disclosures: Some study authors declared affiliations with biotech, pharmaceutical, and/or device companies. Please see the original reference for a full list of disclosures.

Reference

Tammemägi MC, Cina K, Kitts AKB, et al. Sensitivity of US Preventive Services Task Force and PLCOm2012 lung cancer screening eligibility criteria in individuals with lung cancer in South Dakota self‐reporting as Indigenous and non‐Indigenous. Cancer. Published online October 9, 2023. doi:10.1002/cncr.34947