World Lung Cancer Day is commemorated every year on 1 August to raise awareness about lung cancer — prevention, diagnosis, and treatment.

Health organizations and professionals seize the day as an opportunity to shed light on related statistics, promote smoking cessation programmes, advocate for better access to healthcare services, and support ongoing research efforts aimed at improving outcomes for those affected by lung cancer.

 

Dr Ahmed Magdy, National Cancer Institute  

 

Ahram Online: Tell us more about World Lung Cancer Day & the latest numbers regarding the disease in Egypt and globally.

Dr. Ahmed Magdy: World Lung Cancer Day is observed on 1 August every year to raise awareness about lung cancer, its prevention and treatment.

In 2022, there were 2,480,675 new cases of lung cancer worldwide. China had the highest incidence, followed by the United States and Japan.

Moreover, lung cancer deaths reached 1,817,469 around the world in 2022.

Unfortunately, we do not have specific estimates for 2022 lung cancer incidence and mortality rates in Egypt. However, according to Globocan, Egypt had an estimated 7,643 lung cancer cases and 6,805 lung cancer deaths.

AO: How important is early detection in improving lung cancer outcomes, and what advancements in screening methods are proven most effective?

AM: Early detection is important as it allows us to manage the early stages of lung cancer, with a 5-year survival rate reaching 90 percent for stage I. However, if detected at later stages, like stage IV, the 5-year survival rate declines to less than 10 percent.

The best screening method so far is the low-dose CT, implemented in the “Presidential Initiative for the Early Detection and Management of Lung Cancer,” an early detection programme initiated by the Ministry of Health in June 2023.

Other methods on their way to approval are the artificial intelligence programmes incorporated in radiological investigations and the detection of circulating tumour DNA (ctDNA)

AO: What are some key risk factors for developing lung cancer, and how can individuals reduce their risk of developing this disease?

AM: The main risk factor is smoking. Programmes for quitting smoking are essential, and I advise everyone to stay away from smoking individuals.

Moreover, people can avoid work hazardous materials by wearing proper protective gear at work. It is important also to raise the population's awareness and work with the government on programmes to reduce pollution.

AO: How optimistic can we feel about the Presidential Initiative for Cancer Early Detection (PICE) to combat lung cancer in Egypt?

AM: We should be very optimistic as this initiative will help us detect and treat the early stages of lung cancer. It will also raise people's awareness of the importance of prevention and smoking cessation in the fight against lung cancer.

The initiative also includes a smoking cessation programme. 226,000 individuals were referred to the programme and 108,400 received the service.

In addition, we have over 780,000 individuals screened. These numbers are only in one year and are expected to improve in the coming years.

The initiative will also allow us to understand the prevalence of lung cancer and specific driver mutations.

AO: Tell us more about the role of the Lung Ambition Alliance in combating lung cancer in the region.

AM: The Lung Ambition Alliance is significantly helping, as it allows lung cancer specialists and those involved in lung cancer to collaborate and exchange their experiences to help improve the available services.

This regional network also helps amplify each partner’s expertise, increase screening and early diagnosis rates, deliver innovative medicine, and improve patients' care quality.

AO: Can you explain the current state of lung cancer research and any breakthroughs that have recently emerged in the field?

AM: Lung cancer treatment is now a tailored therapy and no longer a “one size fits all.” The improvements in diagnosis allowed us to personalize the treatment according to the presence of driver mutations like EGFR, ALK, ROS1, NTRK, KRAS, HER2, HER3, MET, RET, or PDL1.

These discoveries have increased our armamentarium in the fight against lung cancer. Targeted therapies, monoclonal antibodies, and ADC (antibody-drug conjugates) have changed the management landscape.