SOLACE

PROJECT CONCLUDED

Project Duration: April 2023 to April 2026

Lung cancer is the second most diagnosed cancer among males and the third among females in EU Member States and the leading cause of cancer death for both sexes. Scientific studies show the potential capability of low-dose computed tomography (LDCT) to detect lung cancer early and significantly reduce mortality.

The SOLACE project, led by European Institute for Biomedical Imaging Research (EIBIR), assessed the current state of policies, needs, and best practices in Lung Cancer Screening (LCS) across EU Member States and produced a comprehensive guideline and implementation package covering all steps of the lung cancer screening pathway: evidence-based guidelines, technical papers, documents regarding quality assurance, methodology, benefit-harm balance, and cost-effectiveness. This package was used to showcase the proposed new implementation methodology. Moreover, SOLACE designed, planned, and rolled out three pilot projects in 10 Member States involving more than 12,000 participants, with the aim of increasing participation while considering gender aspects, inequalities among hard-to-reach populations (social, ethnic, and geographical), and higher-risk individuals.

SOLACE established the European Lung Cancer Screening Alliance (ELCSA), serving as a long-lasting interdisciplinary platform and a backbone for sustained implementation across all Member States, including quality assurance, cost-effectiveness analyses with dedicated models for different healthcare systems, and assessments of harms (radiation exposure, overdiagnosis, and complications).

ECO contributed to WP8 on communication and dissemination of the project and on establishing a Stakeholder Advisory Group. Furthermore, ECO led the task focused on organising a Policy Summit on Cancer Screening and Early Detection, bringing together other EU-funded projects (PRAISE-U and TOGAS).

 Browse the project website here.

Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or European Health and Digital Executive Agency (HADEA). Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.
This project is co-funded under the EU4Health Programme 2021–2027 under grant agreement no. 101101187