Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths in the United States for both men and women. Until recently, the major focus of lung cancer control has been smoking prevention and cessation. The recently conducted NCI funded National Lung Cancer Screening Trial (NLST) found that screening with low dose computerized tomography (CT) scans compared to a control of chest x-ray reduced lung cancer mortality among a high risk study cohort. Based on the emerging scientific evidence, clinical guidelines supporting lung cancer screening among high risk populations have been developed by the U.S Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) and other professional organizations. However, many questions remain regarding the translation of scientific findings from clinical trials to the practice setting. In this NCI conference grant we propose to hold a symposium entitled, Lung Cancer Screening: A Debate of Practice, Policy, and Science. This symposium will be held as part of Society for Medical Decision Making (SMDM) 2014 Annual Meeting to be held in Miami, FL. The overall theme of the 2014 SMDM meeting is Medical Decision Making among Diverse Populations: Advancing Practice, Policy, and Science. In accordance with this theme, the proposed symposium will debate issues pertinent to the translation of evidence from clinical trials to diverse populations. The Society for Medical Decision Making is an interdisciplinary professional society that has approximately 1000 members. The scientific focus of SMDM members and meeting attendees encompasses both the individual and population perspective with methods drawn from a range of fields including the social sciences (economics, psychology, sociology), quantitative sciences (mathematics and statistics), organizational theory, engineering, communication, clinical epidemiology, and clinical medicine (physicians, nurses and other health professionals). In the proposed symposium, an interdisciplinary panel of experts will gather to highlight and debate key questions regarding emerging lung cancer screening paradigms. The symposium will foster interdisciplinary discussions that include leaders in clinical medicine, evaluation science, economics, health behavior, and bioethics. The symposia will be organized into 3 blocks: 1) translation of scientific evidence to clinical practic, 2) health policy and the guideline development process, and 3) determining the value of lung cancer screening from the patient and societal perspective. Findings from the symposium will inform strategies for research, policy, and implementation and evaluation of emerging lung cancer screening programs.
The Society for Medical Decision Making (SMDM) is a professional organization that promotes evidence based decision making. In this proposal, SMDM is applying for conference grant to support a symposium for the 2014 Annual Meeting. The symposium is entitled Lung Cancer Screening: A Debate of Practice, Policy, and Science. This symposium will bring together experts from the fields of clinical medicine, health policy, behavioral science, and bioethics to debate how the implementation of a lung cancer screening paradigm can best improve health across diverse populations.
