University of Maryland Greenebaum Comprehensive Cancer Center and AstraZeneca partner to enhance community-based lung cancer screening and detection for Marylanders at high risk

With only a small percentage of Marylanders at high risk for lung cancer getting the recommended annual screening, the University of Maryland Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum Comprehensive Cancer Center (UMGCCC) launched a new statewide effort to increase annual screenings.

The partnership also includes the University of Maryland Medical Center (UMMC), where the cancer center is located, the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM), the University of Maryland Medical System (UMMS), and the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB).  

This public-private initiative, with up to $8 million in funding from AstraZeneca over the next five years, aims to enhance community-based cancer screening and early detection, leading to earlier diagnosis and more treatment options for patients.

The initiative aims to provide greater access to screening, particularly in underserved communities.

This partnership seeks to address:

• Strengthening and expanding lung cancer screening programs and tobacco cessation efforts across the State.
• Evaluating innovative and alternative approaches to improve early detection efforts among at-risk populations.
• Harnessing technology to identify patients at risk, and those eligible for screening.
• Ensuring timely and systematic sharing of scalable successes and lessons to drive public policy, and guide screening efforts in other cancer types beyond lung cancer and beyond Maryland.
• Establishing a “Center for Cancer Health Equity” and a personalized cancer early detection and interception clinic model, to drive research in cancer health disparities with an emphasis on Maryland minority and rural communities.

University of Maryland School of Medicine release on Newswise