SRS343 - Is the targeted lung health check (TLHC) cancer screening programme an effective national intervention in influencing surgical segmental resection?

Abstract Background The TLHC programme has been successful in identifying asymptomatic lung cancer patients at an early-stage, with smaller but curative surgical intervention. The possibility of parenchyma sparing procedures, like segmentectomies, can be more advantageous to the patient in providing better lung-function outcomes. The effectiveness of the regional TLHC programme will be assessed alongside the addition of 3-D image planning to assess their contribution to the success of segmentectomies in reducing morbidity. Methods The observational service evaluation will be classified as retrospective and prospective. Quantitative clinical and imaging data were collected from both those presenting via the TLHC and the routine referral routes from 08/01/2020 to 31/08/2024. Results There were 331 patients who had segmentectomies, of which 50 (15%) were referred through the TLHC, with 96% of these patients TNM graded as T1 or T2 (N0 M0). Within this group, post-operative survival at 1, 2 and 3-years was higher than the non-TLHC group. TLHC patients had a 169% extension to post-operative years before death (P-value = 0.005). Further sub-analysis of TLHC patients who had 3-D image planning showed fewer post-operative complications (P-value = 0.01) and an increased number of disease-free days (P-value = 0.001) than without the imaging. Conclusions This evaluation demonstrated the positive effect the TLHC programme had on the number of segmental resections, and its superior outcomes in reducing morbidity and improving overall and disease-free survival, explained through early-stage migration of asymptomatic lung cancer with minimal removal of healthy lung tissue.