Researchers awarded $2.5 million grant to increase lung cancer screenings in underserved communities

(Press-News.org) A multidisciplinary team of experts in lung cancer screening and implementation science from the UCLA Health Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health was awarded a $2.5 million grant from the Bristol Myers Squibb Foundation, an independent charitable organization, to spearhead a new initiative aimed at reducing disparities in lung cancer screening across Los Angeles County. 

The award supports a new program called California Partnerships to Increase Access to Lung Cancer Screening (CAL-PALS), which includes collaborations between UCLA and two community hospitals—Northridge Hospital Medical Center in the San Fernando Valley and St. Mary Medical Center in Long Beach—to expand access to life-saving lung cancer screening for ethnically minoritized, low-income, and other marginalized groups in Los Angeles, where screening rates remain low in the 5% - 6% range.

“We know from decades of public health research that early detection of lung cancer saves lives,” said Dr. Drew Moghanaki, professor and chief of Thoracic Oncology in the UCLA Department of Radiation Oncology, and lead principal investigator for the grant. “Unfortunately, many high-risk individuals face barriers to accessing lung cancer screening and our hope is that this initiative will demonstrate how a high-resource institution like UCLA can collaborate with community hospitals to not only save more lives in the short term but also pave the way for lasting improvements in lung cancer outcomes across the region and eventually across the entire state of California.”

The CAL-PALS program will support implementation strategies within routine operations of the collaborating hospitals that will involve workflow changes with the support of a designated lung cancer screening physician champion and lung cancer screening navigator funded by the grant. The ultimate goal of the program is to engage physicians and staff across each hospital system to create system-level changes that successfully and sustainably increase access to high-quality lung cancer screening services. Simultaneous community initiatives to increase awareness will include educational campaigns, language support services, and community outreach to ensure the public at large is aware of lung cancer screening services they may be eligible for. 

“The Bristol Myers Squibb Foundation is proud to help stand up the crucial work of the CAL-PALS project as part of our commitment to address lung cancer disparities in the United States by building local health care capacity,” said Catharine Grimes, President of the BMS Foundation. “We are leveraging the lessons learned and the significant strides made by Dr. Moghanaki and the VA-PALS program, and the contributions that the success of that program made towards the VA’s national lung cancer screening program and goal to screen over a million Veterans at risk. Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in the U.S. and increasing detection at earlier, treatable stages is the linchpin to saving more lives. Underserved communities in Los Angeles County can face steep barriers to accessing screening services, but CAL-PALS will help bridge gaps to ensure vulnerable populations can more easily access the care they need.”

By working closely with each community hospital’s leadership, medical staff, patients, and community advocates, the CAL-PALS team hopes to change regional knowledge and perceptions about lung cancer and emphasize the importance of early detection for lung cancer, which remains the number one cause of cancer mortality in the state and the nation. The program will work collaboratively to develop culturally appropriate strategies with community stakeholders to dismantle patient barriers to lung cancer screening such as stigma, fear, and guilt about developing lung cancer following years of cigarette smoking, and lack of knowledge about the ease, availability and value of lung cancer screening and modern treatment options that are helping patients live longer and better lives than ever before once diagnosed. 

Dr. Drew Moghanaki is co-director of the VA Greater Los Angeles Lung Precision Oncology program and on the steering committee of the American Cancer Society’s National Lung Cancer Round Table. Co-principal investigators at UCLA include Dr. Roshan Bastani, professor in the Fielding School of Public Health,  Director of the UCLA Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Equity and Director for Disparities and Community Engagement in the Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center; Dr. Lillian Gelberg, professor in the Department of Family Medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine, the Fielding School of Public Health, and the VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System; Dr. Ashley Prosper, associate professor, section chief for Cardiothoracic Radiology, and co-director of Lung Cancer Screening; and Dr. Beth Glenn, professor in the Fielding School of Public Health and co-director of the Cancer Control and Survivorship program and Community Outreach and Engagement in the Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center. 

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