Lung cancer screening for Indigenous communities

The launch of Australia’s national lung cancer screening program is expected to bring significant benefits for high-risk groups, with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders high on the risk list.

Lung cancer is the fifth most commonly diagnosed cancer in Australia, behind breast, prostate, colorectal cancer and melanoma.

And for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, that toll is higher.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are twice as likely as non-Indigenous Australians to both be diagnosed with and to die from lung cancer.

Peter Bligh, a Kullilli and Wakka Wakka man and director of cancer for the National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (NACCHO) is optimistic the program will reduce that number.

“It’s Closing the Gap in a way that’s meaningful for communities,” he told Croakey Health.

“Patients must not be left in limbo with the threat of lung cancer hanging over them but no timely access to the downstream services such as respiratory specialists.”

From July 1, eligible participants will be able to have a free low-dose CT scan at participating radiology providers or via a mobile lung cancer screening service for regional and remote communities.

Scans will be offered every two years, and more often for people identified at increased risk.

To be considered eligible, participants must:

• be aged between 50 and 70 years old
• show no signs of symptoms of lung cancer (for example, coughing up blood, shortness of breath)
• be a smoker or have quit within the last 10 years
• have a history of long-term cigarette smoking; for example, a pack a day for 30 years or 2 packs a day for 15 years.

Cancer Australia has contracted Heart of Australia, a Queensland-based service supplying medical specialists and their equipment to rural and remote communities, to provide five mobile CT scanning services to remote areas, with the first to begins screening in November, and others to be rolled out by August 2026.

NACCHO and its affiliates, state and territory governments, and other key stakeholders will identify potential locations for mobile screening services, amid general agreement that just five trucks will not be able to quickly reach all remote communities.

Community engagement grants will be available from 25 July to support ACCHOs over two years to develop community-led, locally tailored and culturally appropriate activities to support participation and engagement in screening.