VA Lung Precision Oncology Program (LPOP)

About

Nearly 8,000 Veterans are diagnosed and treated in VA for lung cancer each year. An estimated 900,000 are at risk for lung cancer due to age, smoking, and environmental exposures during and after military service. Veterans have a higher rate of lung cancer and a lower rate of survival than the general population.

The VA Lung Precision Oncology Program (LPOP), a component of the VHA’s Precision Oncology Initiative, aims to give VA clinicians a range of tools to proactively address and treat lung cancer in Veterans. Precision oncology uses patients’ unique genetic profiles from their tumor to tailor individualized treatment and connect them with new therapies through clinical trials. The program goals include:

• Prioritizing screening to identify early-stage lung cancer in high-risk Veterans
• Offering genetic testing for Veterans with advanced lung cancer
• Improving access for Veterans with advanced lung cancer to precision-oncology clinical trials
• Increasing the number of clinical trials available to provide Veterans with new treatment options for lung cancer
• Enabling rapid translation of discoveries into clinical care

To achieve these goals, VA has selected locations across the nation to serve as centralized hub sites. These sites will coordinate with local VA facilities regarding screening, genetic testing, and participation in clinical trials to ensure that Veterans, regardless of where they live, have access to cutting-edge oncology care.

LPOP Hub Site Locations

Initiatives

LPOP is addressing lung cancer by improving screening, expanding care availability, and developing innovative new treatments. Specific initiatives that are part of LPOP include the following:

• LPOP utilizes data analytics captured in the Cancer Care Registry to assess Veterans’ quality of care and access nationwide.
• The VA Partnership to Increase Access to Lung Cancer Screening (VA-PALS) is a multidisciplinary group of clinicians and computer scientists working to increase access to lung screening programs.
• The VALOR (VA Lung Cancer and Stereotactic Radiotherapy) trial is a phase-three randomized clinical trial investigating the role of high-precision radiation therapy as an alternative to surgery for early-stage lung cancer.
• LPOP is using TeleOncology to increase access to care for Veterans who live long distances from VA facilities or who have difficulty traveling.

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Any health information on this website is strictly for informational purposes and is not intended as medical advice. It should not be used to diagnose or treat any condition.