Maine Medical Center & Bristol Myers Squibb Foundation
Maine Medical Center
The Maine Lung Cancer Prevention and Screening (Maine LungCAPS) Initiative will be the first statewide multi-institutional and multidisciplinary approach in reducing the lung cancer burden in Maine. The initiative will focus on educating on lung cancer prevention, developing and testing community-based strategies for high-risk individuals in rural areas, and increasing access to screening, treatment and care.
Need
Lung cancer disproportionately affects residents of Maine as the third most commonly diagnosed cancer and the leading cause of cancer deaths. Maine has a high smoking rate of 22.8% with some rural areas reporting rates as high as 40%.
Environmental factors such as high radon and arsenic levels in buildings and drinking waters also contribute to Maine’s lung cancer burden. Yet, to date, lung cancer control and detection efforts have been uneven and piecemeal. Of new lung cancer cases in 2012, 75% were diagnosed at late stages of the disease, resulting in high mortality rates of 53 deaths per 100,000.
Project
The Maine Lung Cancer Prevention and Screening (Maine LungCAPS) Initiative is the first statewide approach across multiple institutions and disciplines to reduce the lung cancer burden in Maine. The goal is to implement evidence-based lung cancer prevention and early detection services while making the process easier for early referral and treatment of lung cancer patients across the state.
The project would focus on the following
- Engaging and educating the general public, patients, healthcare providers, payers, and policymakers about lung cancer prevention and screening practices
- Developing and testing community-based strategies to reach high-risk individuals in rural, underserved areas
- Creating and implementing programs to increase access to lung cancer screening, treatment, and care
Project Leader
Paul Han, HANP@mmc.org
Partners
- Maine Medical Center
- MaineGeneral Prevention Center
- The MaineHealth Center for Tobacco Independence
- Maine Quality Counts
- Maine Public Health Association
- The University of Southern Maine