Researchers from Curtin University have identified critical gaps in the care of lung cancer patients across Australia.
The study, published in Respirology, showed clear differences between the provision of staff and infrastructure to investigate and treat lung cancer between metropolitan and regional services.
It found that 89 public and private hospitals had critical staffing gaps such as the provision of specialist lung cancer nurses and access to nuclear medicine specialists.
The study, supported by the Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand and Lung Foundation Australia, also discovered that just 38% of all lung cancer teams met minimum staffing requirements for a multidisciplinary team, as defined by Cancer Australia.
Lead investigator Professor Fraser Brims, from the Curtin Medical School, said that not only was lung cancer the leading cause of cancer related deaths across Australia and NZ, it also had the highest burden of disease for any cancer, with more than 16,000 new cases each year.
“The complexity of investigating and treating lung cancer has changed significantly in the past ten years and if centres can’t provide a complete specialist team, the evidence suggests the quality of care will decline,” Professor Brims said.
“Compared to the findings from 2021, there have been improvements, with more centres meeting core staffing requirements, a significant increase in the number of centres with thoracic surgeons at case discussions and a modest increase in specialist nurse availability.
“However, we remain very concerned that only just over one third (36%) of multidisciplinary teams discuss every case of suspected lung cancer in their hospitals. This suggests that many patients are not receiving the standard of care they deserve.”
Curtin University is leading a national collaboration to identify and alleviate these unwarranted differences in care, the LUCAP project, which seeks to use clinical and hospital data to shed light on local lung cancer services.
“There are multiple examples from Australia and NZ of different outcomes for different populations with lung cancer and this study starts to unravel and demonstrate why this is occurring,” Professor Brims explained.
“This is an important part of the process to identify areas of lung cancer care that need to be improved to provide a fair go for all Australians and New Zealanders with lung cancer.”
Lung cancer accounts for 9% of all cancers but is responsible for 18% of deaths from all cancers in Australia. The number of years of potential life lost each year to lung cancer in Australia is thought to be similar to that of colorectal and breast cancer combined.
Despite advances in treatments and evidence-based guidelines to inform best clinical practice, the five-year survival for all lung cancer in Australia remains terribly low at only 19%.
Lung Foundation Australia Chief Executive Officer Mark Brooke said the planned roll-out of a National Lung Cancer Screening Program in July 2025 was a big opportunity to improve lung cancer services.
“There is an urgent need for jurisdictions and institutions to enhance and support services for patients with lung cancer in Australia, particularly the immediate uplift in the number of specialist lung cancer nurses looking after Australia’s leading cancer killer,” he said.