Early Detection is Key: How CT Screening Can Save Lives from Lung Cancer in Latin America
"Discover how low-dose CT screening and smoking cessation programs are revolutionizing lung cancer prevention in Latin America, offering hope and improving outcomes in a region facing unique challenges."
The importance of detecting diseases early cannot be overstated. While preventing diseases by getting rid of risk factors is key, finding and treating diseases early on while people aren't showing symptoms is also important [1]. There are well-established rules for deciding when it makes sense to screen a population for a particular disease [2]. These rules include making sure that the disease is a big health problem and that it can be treated effectively in specialized centers. It's also important to really understand the disease and to be clear that treating it early is better than treating it after it has become advanced. Plus, screening should be an ongoing effort, not just a one-time event [3].
Fortunately, the results of the National Lung Screening Trial (NLST) [4] showed that lung cancer meets all the requirements for a population screening program. Because of this, it's now accepted as an official policy in the United States and many other developed countries.
In Latin America (LA), many countries are dealing with a shift in the types of diseases they face. Instead of mostly infectious diseases, they're seeing more chronic conditions, like different kinds of cancer. More and more new cancer cases are being found in less developed countries, and it's predicted that over 60% of all new cases will be in these areas by 2030. This is happening because cancer rates are going up and people are expected to live longer around the world [5]. Most of these countries are also seeing lung cancer rates increase. However, there's often a sense of silence around the disease, as if it's something shameful and seen as a death sentence.
The Double-Edged Sword: Smoking Cessation and Early Detection

It's clear that lung cancer prevention needs to focus on helping people quit smoking. Most developed countries have taken steps to follow the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) [6]. So, controlling tobacco use is a key part of any lung cancer prevention plan. This should include organized actions to make it easier for people to get into effective programs that help them quit smoking for good [7,8].
- Systematic actions: Facilitate access into effective program
- Multidisciplinary approach: Skilled approach is needed for prevention.
The Future of Lung Cancer Prevention in Latin America
To tackle this, regional efforts are starting to change things within the public and private healthcare systems. The goal is to improve the quality of care and make primary and secondary prevention for lung cancer better in Brazil. The Brazilian early lung cancer detection program (BRELT1) is the first prevention program in South America with published results in 2016.
We've learned that a good program needs a strong structure and constant feedback between medical and non-medical staff to achieve its goals. BRELT1 started in 2013 to find people at high risk for lung cancer using LDCT screening and a full smoking cessation program. It was created to standardize lung CT screening at our facility. Careful planning, starting with clear goals, has led to focused actions with ways to measure performance, find weak spots, and encourage teamwork between different specialists to use resources better. A big problem in Brazil is the high number of granulomatous diseases, which is common throughout the region.
Latin American countries should work to adapt cancer screening plans to their own situations, taking advantage of the benefits that have already been seen in developed countries using the same methods. With smart strategies, more lives can be saved from lung cancer in Latin America. By combining efforts to help people stop smoking with new technologies, the region can make big progress against this deadly disease.