The entire process of undergoing a test takes just over 30 minutes. computed tomography low-dose chest. And through the images a specialist can know if there is a trace of cancer, some respiratory pathology lodged in the bronchi, damage to the heart and some other anomaly in that region. A test that could be performed on patients with a defined risk and save their lives.
He Cassandra pilot project will certify that this is possible. And yes, as its coordinators assure, it is an ambitious plan, “but necessary to get ahead of the disease.” “It is entered into the patient: we contextualize through cancer and other risk diseases. What is pursued is early detection,” explains Juan Carlos Trujillo, clinical head of the Thoracic Surgery Service at the Santa Creu i Sant Pau Hospital in Barcelona and coordinator of the Cassandra project.
But not only that. With this pilot program we also want instrumentalize support for smoking cessation. “Primary prevention [abandonar el tabaco] has not worked, that is why we need other tools to help us,” Trujillo emphasizes.
Madrid, as confirmed this week by its Minister of Health, is now giving the starting signal to its participation in the Cassandra project. “We have supported him from minute one, because it is a pilot project for lung diseases, not just cancer.
Matute highlighted the work led by the Spanish Society of Pulmonology and Thoracic Surgery (Separ) together with nine scientific societies. “In Madrid it will help us export the idea of units in all our centers,” said Matute. For now, La Paz, Ramón y Cajal and Clínico have been included. “Although more could be added.”