Components Necessary for High-Quality Lung Cancer Screening: A 10-Year Update.

Abstract

Lung cancer screening (LCS) has evolved over the past decade with research advances and clinical experience helping to define target populations for screening, improve lung nodule detection and management, and identify structural components of programs that improve the quality of screening delivery. The 2015 American College of Chest Physicians and American Thoracic Society policy statement "Components Necessary for High-Quality Lung Cancer Screening" identified 9 essential components for high-quality LCS. Ten years later, optimizing the balance between the benefits and harms of LCS and ensuring equitable screening among all population groups remain fundamental objectives. In this 2025 update, we aimed to summarize new knowledge and highlight critical components that are needed for providing high-quality LCS. A multidisciplinary group of LCS experts was assembled to review evidence from the past 10 years. The original components were reviewed and updated to develop 8 refined components that should be considered essential structural elements of screening programs. Each component recommended by the authors is supported by an evidence update. Applying this framework will allow screening programs across the country to ensure implementation of high-quality, net-benefit LCS.