LCPN Meeting.

On 27th March 2023 Lung Cancer Policy Network, where LuCE is an active partner, has organized an open network event to coincide with ELCC 2023, concerning “The value of lung cancer screening and how to advocate for implementation”. The event was to provide the opportunity for questions and discussion with a particular focus on how we can best advocate for the earlier detection of lung cancer via lowdose computed tomography (LDCT) screening. The meeting included presentations from:

• Dr Karen Kelly, Network, member and CEO of IALSC on the burden of lung cancer in the EU and discuss the opportunity to reduce this burden via screening.
• Penilla Gunther, Member of the EU Cancer Mission Board – talking about new EU Cancer Screening recommendations, including the introduction of lung cancer screening recommendations and what the next stage of discussion from a policy perspective needs to focus on to drive forward progress.
• Ewelina Szmytke, Network member and LuCE representative – focusing on the importance of patient perspectives on lung cancer screening. Discussed the value of timely diagnosis of cancer from a patient perspective, and the important role of patients in advocating for lung cancer screening.

Presentations were followed up by a panel discussion on how to successfully advocate for lung cancer screening across Europe and a brief overview of the new implementation readiness assessment framework to support the implementation of LDCT screening by Eleanor Wheeler – representative of the Health Policy Partnership, acting as Secretariat to the Lung Cancer Policy Network.

Lung cancer beyond tobacco: Impact of environmental and other risk factors.

On 29th March 2023 Anne-Marie Baird, representing Trinity College in Dublin and the President of LuCE, took part in an educational session of ELCC 2023 “Lung cancer beyond tobacco: Impact of environmental and other risk factors” in a role of a speaker.

Together with other speakers, the session was presented in the given topics:

• “Smoking and lung cancer” by Boris Duchemann, Assistant Professor Département d’oncologie médicale, Hôpital Avicenne in Bobigny, France
• “Radon and other risk factors in lung cancer” – by Laura Mezquita, Associate Faculty in Hospital Clinic of Barcelona, Spain
• “Air pollution and lung cancer” – by Dr Christine Berg who is a radiation oncologist in Bethesda, Maryland and is affiliated with NIH Clinical Center in Bethesda, US
• “Lung cancer prevention: Patients/advocates perspective” – by Anne-Marie Baird
• Q&A

Equity and sustainability in lung cancer care in resource-restricted contexts.

On 31st March 2023 Anne-Marie Baird, representing Trinity College in Dublin and the President of LuCE, took part in a keynote lecture of ELCC 2023 “Equity and sustainability in lung cancer care in resource-restricted contexts” in a role of the chair.

Invited speaker, Prof. Clarissa Maria De Cerqueira Mathias from the Federal University of Bahia, Faculty of Medicine in Brazil gave a very interesting speech in the given topic.

Genotyping in NSCLC: Monitoring, germline alterations, minimal residual disease.

On 31st March 2023 Anne-Marie Baird, representing Trinity College in Dublin and the President of LuCE, took part in a special symposium of ELCC 2023 “Genotyping in NSCLC: Monitoring, germline alterations, minimal residual disease” in a role of a co-chair together with Prof. Rafał Dziadziuszko representing Medical University of Gdańsk, Poland.

The symposium started with a lecture from Anne-Marie on “The real-world impact of genotyping in NSCLC”, followed by:

• “Utility of genotyping in monitoring disease evolution and treatment response” by Prof. Dziadziuszko
• “Is it in the germline: NSCLC as a hereditary disease” – by Patrick Benusiglio, Associate Professor, University of Paris, France
• “Value of genotyping in the assessment of minimum residual disease” – by Dr Luis Paz-Ares Professor of Medicine at Hospital Universitario 12 de Octubre in Madrid, Spain
• Q&A

Poster display session

On 31st March 2023 Anne-Marie Baird, representing Trinity College in Dublin, and the President of LuCE, took part in a poster display session of ELCC 2023.

Her role was to choose the best of the presented posters. posters. The winning poster was on “Development of an explainable clinical decision support tool for advanced lung cancer patients” presented by Laureline Berteloot from Belgium.

Language is more than words (Patient advocacy session).

On 31st March 2023 Diego Villalón (representing LuCE and Fundación Más Que Ideas) and Merel Hennink (representing IASLC and Longkanker Nederland, took part in a special session of ELCC 2023 “Language is more than words (Patient advocacy session)” in a role of chairs and speakers.

Understanding the information and documentation given throughout the care pathway, is critical to improve health care outcomes and increase health equity.

Sufficient space must be given within the clinical setting to adequately approach and discuss consent, shared decision making and end of life care.

This session was to:

• Help to understand the informed consent process
• Understand the importance of appropriate communication throughout the care pathway
• Tackle health equity through language

The topics covered in that session were:

• Informed consent: What does it mean? – by Diego Villalón
• Is shared decision making a reality in the care pathway? – by Merel Hennink
• Prognostic communication – by Nicoletta Mitrea, representing Hospice “Casa Sperantei” (HCS) in Romania and a LuCE member
• Language and its role in health equity – by Torsten Blum representing Lungenklinik Heckeshorn, HELIOS Klinikum Emil von Behring in Berlin, Germany
• Q&A

This special session is a joint IASLC/LuCE patient advocacy session, designed by Jill Feldman representing IASLC and Anne-Marie Baird and Ewelina Szmytke representing LuCE.

Lost in translation (Patient advocacy session).

On 31st March 2023 Ewelina Szmytke, representing LuCE, took part in a special session of ELCC 2023 “Lost in translation (Patient advocacy session)” in a role of a chair and speaker. Shani Shilo, representing IASLC and The Israeli Lung Cancer Foundation was the co-chair of this session.

Health literacy is an important part of understanding lung cancer and is often overlooked issue within the care pathway. This can also include communication within health care teams with both people living with lung cancer and those in a caregiving capacity. In addition to this, the language used around lung cancer often perpetuates stigma, which impacts wellbeing and engagement with healthcare professionals.

This session aimed to:

• Create awareness around health literacy in Europe
• Understand that ‘lay language’ and ‘patient friendly language’ are two separate issues
• Discuss issues relating to communication throughout the care pathway
• Examine the impact of lung cancer stigma

The session started with a presentation on “Health literacy in Europe” by Luis Saboga-Nunes, Assistant Professor for sociology at Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Italy, complimented by “What are health systems doing to improve health literacy” – by Chloe Moore who is doing her PhD on health literacy among cancer caregivers, based in the School of Psychology in Dublin City University in Ireland. The next topic “Words hurt: Tackling lung cancer stigma” was presented by Ewelina Szmytke and the last pre-recorded presentation on “The power of plain language and communication” was given by Shani Shilo. The session was followed by a very interesting Q&A part.

This special session is a joint IASLC/LuCE patient advocacy session, designed by Jill Feldman representing IASLC and Anne-Marie Baird and Ewelina Szmytke representing LuCE.

Harnessing the power of screening in lung cancer (Cancer nursing session).

On 31st March 2023 Lavinia Magee, representing Lung Cancer Nursing UK and a member of LuCE board, took part in a special session of ELCC 2023 “Harnessing the power of screening in lung cancer (Cancer nursing session)” in a role of a speaker.

Her topic was about lung cancer screening in Europe and the new screening recommendations and challenges.

The session also included other topics, such as:

• Establishing a nationwide lung cancer screening programme: The case of Croatia by Sandra Karabatic from University Hospital Centre in Zagreb, Croatia
• Artificial intelligence in screening mammography by Andreas Charalambous, Associate Professor in the Department of Nursing in the Cyprus University of Technology
• The role of advanced nurses in providing smoking cessation care in screening programmes: Current challenges and future opportunities by Stella Bialous, Professor in School of Nursing in San Francisco, US
• Q&A

Lavinia, apart from many valuable information on LC screening, informed the audience about the launch of the new framework developed by Lung Cancer Policy Network, where LuCE is a partner. This framework is an implementation toolkit to support those involved in the planning and delivery of lung cancer screening programmes around the world, available here: https://www.lungcancerpolicynetwork.com/implementation-toolkit/.