Patina of precision: risk models for lung cancer screening eligibility

Lung cancer screening is the ugly duckling of our early detection repertoire. Increased adoption could prevent more deaths than equivalent increases in colorectal, breast or cervical cancer screening.1 Yet very few eligible patients are being checked. This is true in the USA, where there are national guidelines and insurance coverage in place supporting screening. (Annual screening rates have topped out in the range of 15% to 20%.2) Uptake is even poorer in most member states of the European Union due to their lack of national lung cancer screening policies.