Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in the United States, yet fewer than 20% of high-risk individuals receive annual screenings. In Philadelphia, which ranks among the poorest large cities in the country, the problem is especially acute: an estimated 90,000 residents qualify for screening under federal guidelines, but uptake remains at approximately 12%. Low-income residents, immigrants and racial and ethnic minorities face significant barriers to accessing the high-quality screening programs that could detect cancer early and save lives.
“Access to healthcare today is about far more than getting an appointment. It’s about how easily people can find care, understand it, and move through it,” says Baligh Yehia, MD, president of Jefferson Health. “Our goal with this initiative is to create a model that other health systems and health centers across Philadelphia and beyond can replicate.”
Led by Principal Investigator Julie A. Barta, MD, a pulmonologist, lung cancer researcher, and physician lead for Jefferson’s centralized Lung Cancer Screening Program across the 33-hospital Jefferson Health system, the LCS-LINK initiative will partner with community health centers in Philadelphia and the Health Federation of Philadelphia to develop and test novel strategies for lung cancer screening implementation across the project’s full three-year span.
“Through LCS-LINK, we are working directly with community health centers to address the current barriers that prevent many patients from accessing screening and follow-up care. This initiative will allow us to combine Jefferson’s expertise in lung cancer screening with trusted community-based relationships, helping more individuals receive early detection services when treatment is most effective,” says Julie A. Barta, MD, Pulmonologist in Jefferson’s Jane and Leonard Korman Respiratory Institute. “Our goal is not only to improve outcomes for patients in Philadelphia today, but also to create a blueprint for community-based lung cancer screening across the country.”
Jefferson’s Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, which is designated by the National Cancer Institute as a comprehensive center for excellence, currently screens more than 7,000 high-risk individuals annually and maintains a registry of more than 13,000 patients. The LCS-LINK project builds directly on that infrastructure and on Jefferson’s prior BMS Foundation-funded work to increase lung cancer screening, which generated more than 30 peer-reviewed publications and laid the groundwork for a citywide lung cancer learning community spanning multiple Philadelphia health systems.
Long-term goals include expansion of the model to additional Philadelphia FQHCs within three years of project completion, with an ultimate aim of reaching 20 FQHC sites across the city within seven years.