Globally, lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death and the high mortality rate for lung cancer is primarily due to late-stage presentation when cure is unlikely. The Pan-Canadian Early Detection of Lung Cancer Study (PanCan Study) had the general aim of identifying ways to detect lung cancer at an early, potentially curable stage.
The PanCan Study was a multipronged study which looked at the associations between pulmonary function (spirometry), biomarkers, and screening modalities (low dose computed tomography and autofluorescence bronchoscopy) and lung cancer. A primary study aim was to determine if application of a lung cancer risk prediction model could be used to recruit individuals into a low dose computed tomography (LDCT) lung cancer screening study and efficiently identify a relatively large number of lung cancers, and if a high proportion of the identified lung cancers were at early potentially curable stage. In addition, the study investigated the impact of lung cancer screening on quality of life. Between September 2008 and December 2010, 2537 participants were recruited from 8 study centers across Canada (Vancouver, Halifax, Toronto, Hamilton, Ottawa, Quebec City, Halifax and St. John’s). They were offered LDCT screening at study entry and one and four years later. At baseline a detailed, structured epidemiological questionnaire and quality of life questionnaires were administered through interviews. Additional questionnaires were administered during the follow-up period. The median follow-up was 5.5 years. This website contains documents and items used in preparing and conducting the PanCan Study, including the study protocol. This website will also contain selected articles summarizing PanCan Study finding as they become available for release.