Strategic Initiatives for Veterans with Lung Cancer

Lung cancer is a leading cause of cancer-related mortality among veterans-as well as the US population-despite veterans' access to advanced medical technologies within the Veterans Health Administration (VHA). To improve outcomes, the VHA launched 3 lung cancer treatment initiatives in 2016 and 2017.

This article summarizes the VHA lung cancer initiatives and discusses future programs aimed to improve care for veterans. The US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Partnership to Increase Access to Lung Screening aims to reduce lung cancer mortality among veterans at risk by increasing access to low-dose computed tomography lung screening scans. The VALOR study is a randomized phase 3 clinical trial that evaluates optimal treatment for participants with operable early stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). This trial plans to enroll veterans with stage I NSCLC who will be randomly assigned to treatment with either surgical lobectomy or stereotactic body radiation therapy. Researchers will follow each participant for at least 5 years to evaluate which treatment, if either, results in a higher overall survival rate. The VA Radiation Oncology Quality Surveillance program compares treatment of veterans with lung cancer in the VHA with quality standards recommended by nationally recognized experts in lung cancer care.

The VHA continues to prioritize resources to improve and assure optimal outcomes for veterans with lung cancer. Future efforts include creating a national network of lung cancer centers of excellence to ensure that treatment decisions for veterans with lung cancer are based on all available molecular information, including data on pharmacogenomic profiles.