Raymond U. Osarogiagbon, MD, FACP, chief scientist, Baptist Memorial Health Care, director, Multidisciplinary Thoracic Oncology Program, Thoracic Oncology Research Group, Baptist Cancer Center, discusses the long-term effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on lung cancer screenings.

In the early months of the pandemic, restrictions prevented patients from gaining the usual access to health-care providers, Osarogiagbon says. Along with social distance and quarantine guidelines, health-care facilities reprioritized to address the immediate needs associated with COVID-19, Osarogiagbon adds.

Within his own institution, Osarogiagbon notes lung cancer screening was suspended for months. Now, patients who may have been candidates for screening in the past are presenting with advanced lung cancer, including patients were considered low risk but were unable to get screened, Osarogiagbon concludes.

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Raymond U. Osarogiagbon, MD, FACP, discusses the long-term effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on lung cancer screenings.


Dr. Osarogiagbon on the Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Lung Cancer Screening

Raymond U. Osarogiagbon, MD, FACP, chief scientist, Baptist Memorial Health Care, director, Multidisciplinary Thoracic Oncology Program, Thoracic Oncology Research Group, Baptist Cancer Center, discusses geographic disparities in lung cancer.

Lung cancer is a public health challenge worldwide, but the patterns of incidence and mortality are not geographically uniform, Osarogiagbon says. For example, the incidence and mortality rates associated with lung cancer vary from country to country, Osarogiagbon adds. For example, in the United States, the 5 states with the highest rates of lung cancer and lung-cancer related mortality include Kentucky, Mississippi, Arkansas, West Virginia, and Tennessee, Osarogiagbon explains. Moreover, this correlates with the same states that have high rates of tobacco use, Osarogiagbon continues. It is known that smoking remains the most significant risk factor for lung cancer, which makes it important to note the cultural acceptances of tobacco use, Osarogiagbon explains.

The tobacco belt of the United States is also the ​"cancer mortality belt​" of the United States, which identifies one type of geographic disparity, Osarogiagbon concludes.

Raymond U. Osarogiagbon, MD, FACP, discusses geographic disparities in lung cancer. 


Dr. Osarogiagbon on Geographic Disparities in Lung Cancer 

Raymond U. Osarogiagbon, MD, medical oncologist, Baptist Cancer Center, discusses geographic disparities in lung cancer mortality rates across the United States.

On average, rates of lung cancer are decreasing across the country, with a rapid decline in male cases beginning in the 1990s, and the same decreases in women approximately 1 decade later, according to Osarogiagbon. At the state level, however, significant differences in disease rates and outcomes remain. States in the southern and midwestern United States are at a higher risk of death from lung cancer, per capita, Osarogiagbon says.

The states with the highest rate of lunger cancer deaths include Kentucky, Mississippi, Arkansas, Tennessee, and West Virginia, according to Osarogiagbon. Moreover, these disparities increase even further at the county level, Osarogiagbon notes. Notably, in some counties across the country, rates of lung cancer are increasing, and others have plateaued with no decrease, Osarogiagbon concludes.

Raymond U. Osarogiagbon, MD, discusses geographic disparities in lung cancer mortality rates across the United States. 


Dr. Osarogiagbon on Geographic Disparities in Lung Cancer Mortality Rates in the United States 

Raymond U. Osarogiagbon, MD, FACP, Boston Baskin Cancer Foundation, Baptist Memorial Medical Group, discusses treating patients with lung cancer that have the potential to be cured.

While there is a population of patients with lung cancer that can be cured, often this does not occur, says Osarogiagbon. The vast majority of patients with lung cancer that can be cured are people who have had surgery. However, approximately half of the patients that undergo surgery fail to achieve cure.

The most important factor in determining if a patient is likely to be cured from surgery is how extensive their disease is. If the cancer has spread to the lymph nodes, especially those outside of the lung, they are more high-risk  

The further out the cancer has spread the higher the risk is, says Osarogiagbon. If a patient is determined to be high-risk after surgery, they may be able to receive radiation or chemotherapy to lower their risk and increase their chance of survival.

Raymond U. Osarogiagbon, MD, FACP

Articles

Dr. Osarogiagbon on the Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Lung Cancer Screening

Dr. Osarogiagbon on Geographic Disparities in Lung Cancer

Dr. Osarogiagbon on Geographic Disparities in Lung Cancer Mortality Rates in the United States

Dr. Osarogiagbon on Improving Lung Cancer Cure Rates