A groundbreaking lung cancer screening project co-led by the University of Kentucky Markey Cancer Center and the University of Colorado (CU) Cancer Center is set to expand its reach, thanks to a $6.8 million grant from the Bristol Myers Squibb Foundation, an independent charitable organization.  

QUILS™ (Quality Implementation of Lung Cancer Screening), led by UK Markey Cancer Center researchers Jennifer Redmond Knight, Dr.P.H., and Timothy Mullett, M.D., and Jamie Studts, Ph.D., from the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus (CU-AMC), has helped to transform Kentucky’s approach to lung cancer screening over the past decade. 

Despite grappling with the nation’s highest lung cancer incidence and mortality rates, Kentucky now has the second-highest rate of lung cancer screening in the U.S. The turnaround is due in part to QUILS™ System, which has helped Kentucky’s health care providers improve their lung cancer screening processes. 

Building on this success, the four-year grant will support the new effort led by UK and CU to replicate and adapt the program in Mississippi and Nevada — states chosen due to their high lung cancer burden, low screening rates, opportunities to address health disparities as well as coalition capacity and readiness. 

“Our experience in Kentucky has taught us that improving lung cancer screening rates requires a collaborative, quality-focused approach,” said Knight, co-principal investigator of Kentucky LEADS Collaborative and an assistant professor in the UK College of Public Health. “This funding will allow us to apply what we’ve learned in Kentucky to help create targeted solutions for Mississippi and Nevada, potentially setting a new standard for lung cancer screening nationwide.” 

The QUILS™ System helps screening centers optimize their services by evaluating factors such as patient eligibility, tobacco cessation efforts and shared decision-making processes. The program emerged from the prevention and early detection component of the Kentucky LEADS (Lung cancer, Education, Awareness, Detection and Survivorship) Collaborative, which was launched in 2014 to improve Kentucky’s approach to lung cancer through education, survivorship care and screening practices.  

The LEADS Collaborative framework has helped boost Kentucky’s screening rates to twice the national average. As a result, late-stage lung cancer diagnoses have decreased by 10% in the past decade. The shift is expected to reduce mortality rates over time, as patients diagnosed at earlier stages have significantly better survival prospects. 

“The message is simple: lung cancer screening saves lives. With modern treatments, many early-stage lung cancers are not only treatable but potentially curable,” said Mullett, a thoracic surgeon and a co-principal investigator of the Kentucky LEADS Collaborative. “This project will help to spread this message of hope in high-risk communities and could save thousands of lives.” 

The team will partner with key organizations in Mississippi and Nevada to implement the QUILS™ System and build a program based on the successful LEADS Collaborative framework. The effort will also encourage coalition building among diverse partners throughout each state and engage each state’s primary care infrastructure to accelerate screening — adapting the Kentucky model to meet each state’s unique needs. 

UK will serve as the program management hub, in addition to leading the coalition building and QUILS™ System Implementation. The clinician engagement component and the population health impact evaluation will be led by CU. UK and CU will work alongside the lead organizations in Mississippi and Nevada: The University of Mississippi Medical Center and Nevada Cancer Coalition.  

“The teams in Mississippi and Nevada have developed an engaged group of collaborators that are ready to work with our team to optimize delivery and outcomes related to lung cancer screening — the most underutilized tool to transform cancer outcomes nationally,” said Studts, a cancer prevention and control researcher, professor and co-principal investigator. “Together, we have an incredible opportunity to transform the lung cancer screening and outcomes landscape similarly to how that landscape is changing in Kentucky.” 

The long-term goal is to create a sustainable, replicable model for improving lung cancer screening rates and outcomes nationwide. If successful, this model could potentially be expanded to other states with similar needs. 

“We’ve seen firsthand how impactful the Kentucky LEADS Collaborative has been in increasing lung cancer screenings and helping save lives,” said Catharine Grimes, president of the Bristol Myers Squibb Foundation. “Now, we are providing a deeper commitment to the successful work in Kentucky and an expansion into communities in Mississippi and Nevada, where the need is just as great, and we’re proud to support this important effort.”