19 May 2025
Modelling shows it should prevent hundreds of deaths per year, but some questions about the National Lung Cancer Screening Program (NLCSP), which begins from 1 July, remain unanswered. Croakey Health Media explored these questions and more in their final article on ASMIRT/NZIMRT 2025, and in an interview with conference invited speaker Dr Sarah Bergamin.
Dr Bergamin is a radiation oncologist at the Northern Sydney Cancer Centre at Royal North Shore Hospital in Sydney, the Western Cancer Centre at Dubbo Bass Hospital, and Genesis Care. She addressed ASMIRT/NZIMRT 2025 delegates with a presentation on lung cancer screening, saying most lung cancers are already at stage four by the time the patient receives a diagnosis.
Dr Bergamin expects the NLCSP will see the proportion of stage one diagnoses rise from 16 per cent to more than 50 per cent, and the proportion of stage four diagnoses drop from 53 per cent to 11 per cent. However, she says the Program faces challenges, including disparity in access, healthcare resources, false positives, radiation exposure, psychosocial burden and stigma. Others share her concerns.
Meanwhile, Mark Brooke CEO of the Program, says its launch is "very exciting," pointing out that the NLCSP is the first new national cancer screening program to launch in 20 years.
"It is the fastest to be delivered from ideation, feasibility to implementation, and the first to be delivered in the digital age. It has been years in the making, with wide-ranging consultation and co-design," he says.
Find out more about the National Lung Cancer Screening Program, including the resources available for medical radiation practitioners here.
