LAPIN
Lung cancer screening And Prevention Internationally
In Europe, as well as in the US, lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related mortality. Lung cancer incidence is concentrated among those at an identifiable high risk, notably by (past) exposure to tobacco. In light of favorable reductions in mortality in trial settings, the Council of the EU recommends member states evaluate the feasibility and implementation of regular lung cancer screening (LCS) with Computed Tomography.
To date, CT coverage is challenging, while many issues in implementing a targeted programme remain: best scoping and recruitment of the target population, setting the correct risk threshold for balancing harms to benefits, capacity considerations, optimal smoking cessation interventions, and detailed budget- and health impact analyses per country. Additionally, exposure to non-tobacco risk factors differs by population.
LAPIN, a project of the EU-US Lung Cancer Working Group, aims to fill the existing knowledge gap in EU member states regarding cumulative tobacco exposure, associated lung cancer risk, and potential lung cancer screening eligibility. During the 18-month project, US-validated methods of cohort modelling will be adapted to EU setting utilising multiple available data resources.
Secondary objectives include the consolidation of best practices from early European implementation efforts such as the SOLACE project, and guidance on the risk identification and potential screening of the moderate-risk population, particularly those with non-tobacco risk factors.
The ESR as a project partner will contribute the radiology perspective and support dissemination activities.
The specific objectives of LAPIN are:
- Generation of a European Smoking History Generator (EU-SHG)
- Optimizing best practices in organised lung cancer screening programmes
- Lung cancer epidemiology forecasts using cohort tobacco exposure models and scenario analyses of screening implementation
- Characterisation of the moderate-risk lung cancer population, focusing on residential radon exposure.
As part of the project, a workshop will be held to demonstrate the use of cohort modelling in lung cancer screening, show the goals and process of the project, and gather input from stakeholders in screening to optimize project deliverables to real-world information gaps.
LAPIN stakeholder workshop
Date: 6 May 2026
Time: 15:00-17:00 CEST
Registration:
Click here to register for the Zoom webinar.
LAPIN – Facts and figures
Coordinator: Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam/NL
Start date: 1 November 2025
End date: 30 April 2027
Number of partners: 8 partners, 2 associated partners
Overall budget: € 833,143.73
EU contribution: € 499,011.19
Project webpage: click here
Contact:
RHYTHM is coordinated by the European Institute for Biomedical Imaging Research.
EIBIR office
Am Gestade 1
1010 Vienna, AT
Phone: +43 (1) 533 40 64 538
E-mail: office [@] eibir [.] org
RHYTHM on Linked: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/rhythm-eu-project/
Official RHYTHM web page: https://www.eibir.org/projects/rhythm
This project has received funding from the European Union’s EU4H programme under Grant Agreement No. 101248810.
