Lung Cancer Screening in Head and Neck Cancer: An Opportunity to Increase Screening in Eligible Candidatess

Lung cancer screening is as an effective strategy for early diagnosis in high-risk patients, with proven impact on decreasing mortality. Individuals with malignancies of the head and neck have risk factors similar to those with lung cancer, with the most notable being a shared association with current or previous smoking. We evaluated the prevalence of lung cancer screening candidacy and implementation among head and neck cancer clinic patients.

Anonymous surveys were collected from patients who presented to the head and neck cancer clinic at a single, tertiary-care center from May 2024 to August 2024. Individuals were queried regarding their candidacy for and experiences with lung cancer screening. Descriptive analyses were performed.

A total of 202 patients were surveyed, with median age of 66 (interquartile range, 15) years. Within this cohort, 77 (38.0%) previously smoked and 15 (7.4%) currently smoked. Among all respondents, 23 (11.4%) met 2021 United States Preventative Service Taskforce criteria for lung cancer screening. Most of the patients (16 [69.6%]) who met criteria had never been offered screening. Seven patients (30.4%) who were eligible for lung cancer screening were previously offered screening and completed it. Of the 25 patients who were screened in the entire cohort, 5 (20%) were diagnosed with lung cancer.

A substantial proportion of head and neck cancer patients are eligible for lung cancer screening. The low levels of screening highlighted in this shared patient population serve as an opportunity for quality improvement, especially given the high frequency of cancer diagnoses among those who received screening.