ASCO 2025: Dr. Osarogiagbon Highlights How Lung Cancer Screening Saves Lives

Raymond Osarogiagbon, MD, of the Baptist Cancer Center, joined Lung Cancers Today at the 2025 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting to discuss his presentation on lung cancer diagnosis rates in lung cancer screening and incidental pulmonary nodule cohorts in the Mississippi Delta.

In the first segment of his interview, Dr. Osarogiagbon provided insights on the background of his research and what drew him to the study of lung cancer screening rates.

“As a lung cancer specialist who practices in the region of the United States, which happens to be at the heart of the lung cancer mortality belt of America, the idea of finding lung cancer early enough to intervene is very compelling,” he said. “In 2011, when the results of the National Lung Screening Trial were announced with resounding success, we were all very excited.”

Dr. Osarogiagbon explained that after the 2015 Medicare coverage decision made lung cancer screening a covered health benefit, he also helped to initiate a lung cancer screening program in addition to the previously created incidental lung nodule program.

“We followed all patients in the healthcare system who were enrolled into those programs longitudinally with very careful data collection,” he said. “What we have found is that, just like the National Lung Screening Trial, lung cancer screening saves lives. You can find lung cancer at a much earlier stage, and you’re able to do more for people and you’re able to see people survive.”

Dr. Osarogiagbon further explained that for every person diagnosed through the National Lung Cancer Screening Trial, three to four patients in the Mississippi Delta lung cancer screening program were diagnosed with the disease, highlighting the profound impact for patients. He also described the program results demographically, emphasizing the high rate of lung cancer among Black patients in the US.

“The demographic makeup of the National Lung Screening Trial is not fully representative of the kinds of people who get lung cancer in America,” he said. “The National Lung Screening Trial had anywhere from 4% to 5% of people enrolled who were African American, whereas it’s about 12% to 14% of lung cancer patients in America who are Black. One of the things that we’re learning is that lung cancer screening is even more effective in Black people and in women than it is in White males, who were the predominant people enrolled in the National Lung Screening Trial.”

Dr. Osarogiagbon highlighted that these findings indicate the importance of conducting research on lung cancer screenings within a real-world population, with the goal of optimizing the impact of screening on patients’ lives.

“The news that we have is that screening, certainly in the population we looked at in the high-incidence mortality belt, is even more effective, at least twice as effective and maybe up to four times as effective, as was reported in the National Lung Screening Trial,” he concluded. “We feel it’s important to get the message out that even in a community healthcare system, lung cancer screening can be done effectively, safely, and the yield is actually greater than what was predicted.”