New web-based tool helps fight lung cancer mortality and advance treatment

Experts have created a customizable, web-based tool that provides state and local leaders with tailored resources to reduce lung cancer mortality rates and advance treatment. The tool's development and features are described in an article published by Wiley online in CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society.

Although lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer and cancer deaths worldwide, screening rates have remained low, leading to delayed diagnoses and care and ultimately resulting in high mortality rates.

To reduce lung cancer deaths, the American Cancer Society National Lung Cancer Roundtable (ACS NLCRT) was founded in 2017 to unite public, private, and non-profit groups, with more than 200 leading patient advocacy organizations, professional medical societies, state and federal government agencies, cancer centers, academic institutions, health systems, health plans, and corporate associations joining together to lend their expertise. Among its 10 task groups, the State-Based Initiatives (SBI) Task Group was charged to provide states with tailored resources, best practices, and implementation strategies to address lung cancer, and to create a centralized, web-based tool.

The SBI Planning Tool was developed through meetings, interviews, and usability testing, and the website's content, layout, and navigability were reviewed biweekly. User feedback was also gathered through surveys. The developers made an effort to allow users to navigate the webpage towards tailored recommendations based on their needs because every state or region has unique challenges and assets dependent on existing work in lung cancer, availability of funds, policies in place, levels of provider engagement, and community perceptions.

Also, as limiting interventions to better-resourced communities without including underserved areas could worsen geographic, demographic, and cultural disparities in lung cancer outcomes, a focus on health equity was integrated throughout the SBI Planning Tool.

Before the ACS NLCRT was established, but more so after, state coalitions focused on public health initiatives to reduce lung cancer deaths have sprung up. It is often said that 'all public health is local,' and the aim of the ACS NLCRT State-Based Initiatives Task Group is to give local leaders, health care professionals, and advocates the tools to efficiently and effectively develop tailored programs to advance lung cancer control in their state. Among the many achievements of the ACS NLCRT, the development of the SBI Planning tool ranks high on the list."

Robert Smith, PhD, senior author, American Cancer Society