A major Lisbon hospital says it is ready to start lung cancer screening, with thousands of patients already identified, as soon as funding is approved.
Santa Maria Hospital has 3,500 eligible patients lined up and the capacity to carry out 30 low-dose CT scans per week as part of one of the government’s long-announced pilot projects, according to the hospital’s Thoracic Department.
“We are ready to start this month,” department director Cristina Bárbara told Lusa news agency. She explained that the hospital has been preparing since 20224 to meet all the requirements for the initiative, which aims to tackle the leading cause of cancer death in Europe.
The screening will use low-radiation CT scans, carried out outside normal working hours, with patients called in over several rounds.
Early detection can be vital, making surgery possible and significantly reducing deaths, Bárbara stressed.
The programme also includes anti-smoking consultations, albeit with a non-accusatory tone. “Smokers often blame themselves, and that is not what we want. We want them to quit smoking and, above all, to be able to identify the growth of a neoplasm at a stage when it is treatable.”
Screening will initially cover patients registered with the Santa Maria Local Health Unit, identified through electronic health records or referred by family doctors and pulmonologist.
According to international data, screening just 100 to 150 people can prevent one death from lung cancer, compared to between 400 and 500 for colon cancer and 700 to 1,700 for breast cancer, making it far more cost-effective. Early detection can reduce mortality by 20% to 25%, Bárbara said.
Santa Maria is part of the EUCanScreen consortium, alongside hospitals in Porto and Cascais, aimed at improving cancer screening across the EU. A new national data platform will also be needed, as Portugal currently lacks one for lung, prostate and stomach cancer screening.
Lung cancer affects around 5,000 people a year in Portugal, killing about 4,000, with smoking remaining the main risk factor.
