Nij Smellinghe Hospital in Drachten will be one of the so-called screening locations in a European population screening program for lung cancer. The aim is to detect lung cancer at an early stage.
With lung cancer, noticeable symptoms often arise when the cancer is already in a later stage and is more difficult to treat. If lung cancer is diagnosed earlier, it is more treatable and the chance of dying from the disease is considerably lower. That is why the trial population study has been started.
The invitation letters to the potential participants, residents of the Drachten region between the ages of 60 and 79, were sent out this week. The people who respond must complete an online questionnaire that should clarify whether they are eligible for a CT scan. According to the researchers, the population screening mainly focuses on people who smoke or have smoked for a long time.
The hospital will be one of three locations in the Netherlands where the study, called 4-IN-THE-LUNG-RUN, will take place. The other locations are the AVL Center for Early Diagnosis of the Antoni van Leeuwenhoek / Netherlands Cancer Institute (Amsterdam) and the Link2Care screening center (Bilthoven).
Radiologist Dr. Lubbers: ,,In Nij Smellinghe we have a high-quality CT scanner. This allows us, for example in a screening setting, to diagnose lung cancer at an early stage with very little X-rays with razor-sharp, detailed images. That is why Nij Smellinghe has been chosen as one of the three screening locations.”