A Need for Better Nodule Management
Together, we can transform lung care.
Lung cancer care today is fragmented, with inconsistent patient entry points and care pathways, and multiple medical disciplines involved.
As a result, time to treatment is far too long — up to six months after the first worrisome scan.([FOOTNOTE=Gildea T, DaCosta Byfield S, Hogwarth DK, Wilson D, Quinn C. A retrospective analysis of delays in the diagnosis of lung cancer and associated costs. Clinicoecon Outcomes Res. 2017;9:261-9.],[ANCHOR=],[LINK=]) And with 74 percent of patients diagnosed at late stages,1 the overall five-year survival rate for lung cancer is just 18 percent.([FOOTNOTE=Siegel RL, Miller KD, Jemal A. Cancer Statistics, 2017. CA Cancer J Clin. Jan. 2017;67(1):7-30.],[ANCHOR=],[LINK=])
That’s because late-stage diagnosis leaves patients with few curative options. In fact, only 23 percent receive standard-of-care surgical treatment.([FOOTNOTE=Varied global sources informing Surgical Market Model – FY16 Lobes, Pnuem, Segments and Therapeutic Wedges over global incidence.],[ANCHOR=],[LINK=])
Too many patients are falling through the cracks
There are three primary ways patients with lung nodules enter the health system:
- Seeking treatment of symptoms, which likely means the disease is advanced and their chances of survival are poor
- Lung cancer screening identified nodule findings
- Incidental findings discovered during an unrelated hospital imaging encounter
Alarmingly, incidental pulmonary nodule findings have a higher probability of malignancy than those identified through screening.([FOOTNOTE=Tanner NT, Aggarwal J, Gould MK, et al. Management of pulmonary nodules by community pulmonologists: A multicenter observational study. Chest. 2015; 148:140.],[ANCHOR=],[LINK=]),([FOOTNOTE=MacMahon H, Naidick DP, Goo JM, et al. Guidelines for management of incidental pulmonary nodules detected on CT images: From the Fleischner Society 2017. Radiology. 2017;284:228.],[ANCHOR=],[LINK=]),([FOOTNOTE=National Lung Screening Trial Research Team, Church TR, Black WC, et al. Results of initial low-dose computed tomographic screening for lung cancer. N Engl J Med. 2013;368:1980-91. ],[ANCHOR=],[LINK=]) Yet more than 70 percent of incidental nodules are not followed-up on appropriately — or at all.([FOOTNOTE=Blagev, et al. J Am College of Radiology. 2014;11:378-383.],[ANCHOR=],[LINK=])
When not addressed, these patients are likely to re-enter the lung cancer care pathway with more advanced disease — with lower chances of survival and higher treatment costs.
That’s why we’re focused on solving one of the most significant barriers: system fragmentation and suboptimal tools for patient capture and management. And it’s why we partnered with Philips to develop and commercialize the LungGPS™ patient management platform.