The Integration and Analysis of Data using Artificial Intelligence to Improve Patient Outcomes with Thoracic Diseases (DART) research programme
- Cancer HTA and economic evaluations
Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in the UK and worldwide, and earlier diagnosis is critical to reducing mortality. Clinical trials have shown that lung cancer screening programmes can reduce mortality by 20–26% and can also detect co‑morbid disease. These findings led to the establishment of NHS England’s Targeted Lung Health Check (TLHC) Programme.
The DART research programme aims to improve multiple aspects of lung cancer screening. It is collecting clinical data, imaging data (CT scans) and pathology from people invited to participate in the TLHC Programme, and linking these data to Health Episode Statistics (HES) to examine longer‑term outcomes.
DART collaborators are testing the use of artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms to improve the detection of pulmonary nodules and lung cancers on CT scans.
The aim of our work package is to assess the cost‑effectiveness of lung cancer screening using low‑dose computed tomography (LDCT) with AI‑assisted image reading compared with LDCT alone, using decision‑analytic modelling.