Strengthening the screening of Lung Cancer in Europe
In the framework of the EU4Health Program call No. EU4H-2022-PJ-01, the SOLACE consortium’s health program funded by the European Commission started on April 1, 2023. In the project multidisciplinary expert working groups and 33 institutions from 13 EU member states participate to implement a low-dose computed tomography (LDCT) lung cancer screening program that effectively detects lung cancer at an early stage and reduces lung cancer-related mortality. In addition to summarizing professional knowledge and methodological developments, the consortium project includes 3 pilot sub-investigations, which started on October 1, 2023, and whose goal is the more effective involvement of the underrepresented segments of the society (women, socially deprived people, people living in geographically remote areas, ethnic minorities) and of ethnic groups at risk (suffering from respiratory diseases, previously suffering from cancer) into the screening program.
Our institution undertook to carry out an examination of 1 000 people, the LDCT screening and biological sample collection in cooperation with the Opre Roma Association, who recruit the target group members belonging to the Roma minority. CT scans are evaluated with the help of a radiologist and an artificial intelligence-based Aidence Veye MI software. The long-term effectiveness of the cancer screening program is assessed by following up patients with positive screening results and by assessing changes in their smoking habits. At the consortium level, the data obtained during the control and test periods of the pilot studies are aggregated and analyzed for research purposes, which are processed in an anonymized form.
The total cost of the project: EUR 12 134 208,89 (UD Faculty of Medicine partner cost request: ).
The SOLACE program was supported in line with the objectives of Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan, which focuses on improving early cancer detection, disease prevention and health promotion, as well as reducing health inequalities and promoting access to health care, improving public health and is aimed at promoting in the European Union.
More information can be found on the project website https://europeanlung.org/solace/
Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or European Health and Digital Executive Agency (HADEA). Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them. This project is co-funded under the EU4Health Programme 2021–2027 under grant agreement no. 101101187