Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42516477›Full record

ReviewCureus2026

Lung Cancer Screening in California and Los Angeles County: A Landscape Analysis.

Haley I Tupper, Yulei Angelina Gao, Amy L Cummings

Abstract readReview
In one paragraph

Review in Cureus, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors.

Haley I TupperSurgery, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, USA.
Yulei Angelina GaoNeuroscience, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, USA.
Amy L CummingsHematology and Oncology, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, USA.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Lung cancer screening with low-dose computed tomography (LDCT) reduces mortality, yet California has among the nation's lowest screening rates with substantial disparities by race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status. This landscape analysis characterizes the current lung cancer screening implementation ecosystem in California and Los Angeles (LA) County to inform stakeholders seeking to improve screening equity. We conducted a structured review of peer-reviewed literature and grey literature following methods adapted from Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) guidelines, synthesizing information on cancer screening policy frameworks, healthcare system structure, delivery infrastructure, risk factor distribution, and screening outcomes. The analysis examines lung cancer screening in the context of established screening programs (breast, colorectal, cervical cancer) and describes California's complex healthcare landscape with emphasis on safety-net systems serving the highest-risk populations. Lung cancer screening currently lacks infrastructure elements present in established programs, including comprehensive federal legislative frameworks, quality regulation comparable to the Mammography Quality Standards Act (MQSA), and fully developed performance measures. California's healthcare system presents specific implementation challenges: MediCal reimbursement ranks 40th nationally with declining provider participation; multi-layered contractual arrangements create care coordination complexity; and federally qualified health centers face margin pressures while providing nearly half of MediCal primary care. LA County demonstrates profound geographic maldistribution-LDCT facilities cluster in low-risk areas while communities with the highest tobacco exposure and poorest air quality have the least access to screening resources. Tobacco retailers are concentrated in low-income areas, and three-quarters of those at-risk from poor air quality are people of color. Current performance reflects these barriers: California's screening rates rank among the nation's worst, 68% of LA diagnoses are late-stage, and substantial racial disparities exist. This landscape analysis provides stakeholders with comprehensive documentation of the policy frameworks, system structures, risk distributions, and implementation barriers that define the lung cancer screening ecosystem in the United States' most populous county, serving as a foundation for evidence-informed efforts to improve screening equity.

Indexed as

californiahealthcare policykey stakeholderslos angeles countylung cancer risklung cancer screeningmedicaidprimary caresafety-net health systemssocioeconomic factors

Identifiers

PMID42516477
PMCPMC13404923

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.