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Breast, Colorectal Cancer Screening Higher Than Lung Cancer Screening

HealthDay News — Among individuals eligible for lung cancer screening (LCS), use of breast cancer screening (BCS) and colorectal cancer screening (CCS) is much higher than use of LCS, according to a research letter published online April 2 in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Alexandra L. Potter, from Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, and colleagues examined use of other cancer screening tests among U.S. Adults eligible for LCS and those ineligible for LCS. Participants aged 50 to 79 years in the 2022 U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) dataset were classified according to whether they met the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force criteria for LCS. LCS-eligible participants were further classified according to whether they were eligible for BCS and CCS.

Of the 212,393 BRFSS participants who met the study inclusion criteria, 28,483 were eligible for LCS. Overall, 11,147 and 24,172 BRFSS participants were included in the LCS/BCS and the LCS/CCS dual-eligibility cohorts, respectively. The researchers found that in the LCS/BCS dual-eligibility cohort, 65.0 percent underwent BCS and 17.0 percent underwent LCS. In the LCS/CCS dual-eligibility cohort, 64.7 percent underwent CCS and 17.5 percent underwent LCS. Among LCS-eligible participants who had never undergone LCS, 60.2 and 58.7 percent underwent BCS and CCS, respectively. In nearly all subgroups, receipt of CCS and BCS was at least three times higher than LCS.

"The results highlight the need for interventions to increase awareness about LCS and to reduce barriers," the authors write.

One author disclosed ties to the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry.

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