The Annual Scientific Meeting of the Royal Australian College of Radiologists (RANZCR) took place in Perth on October 17-19. At this meeting Dr Miranda Siemienowicz, Co-Director of Radiology  Training at Northern Health and Chair of the Australian and New Zealand Society of Thoracic Radiology (ANZSTR), introduced the Australian National Lung Cancer Screening Program (NLCSP) to the radiology community. This session was a highlight of the conference, which had over 1,300 attendees.

The NLCSP is Australia’s first new screening program since 2006 and aims to save 500 lives each year by detecting lung cancer early with low-dose chest CT scans. Dr Siemienowicz has been instrumental in advising the government and leading a working group of 62 radiologists from Australia and New Zealand to develop the necessary materials for the program. This is the largest working group ever supported by the College of Radiologists.

On 23 October, Dr Siemienowicz was in Canberra for the official endorsement of the lung nodule management protocol, created by her working group to guide lung cancer screening CT reports. This protocol is now backed by the Australian Government. The ANZSTR has also developed guidelines for performing low-dose CT scans, writing structured reports, managing incidental findings, using AI for scan interpretation, and creating educational materials to support workforce training. Much of this work was done for RANZCR under a contract with Cancer Australia.

Says Dr Siemienowicz, “Lung cancer screening remains an organised, funded service in only a small minority of countries around the globe. The commitment by the Australian Government to fund this program is a landmark for Australians and a major opportunity for radiology to support a profound impact on the public health of this nation.”

Featured image: Dr Miranda Siemienowicz.