UNC Lineberger’s Louise Henderson, PhD, an associate professor in the UNC School of Medicine Department of Radiology, received two awards from the National Cancer Institute to study breast and lung cancer screening.
Henderson received a five-year, $3.13 million award from the NCI in September to study the extent to which disparities in intermediate lung cancer screening outcomes exist. The study addresses the growing need to monitor screening. Her project, “Evaluating Lung Cancer Screening Patterns and Outcomes through a North Carolina Registry,” aims to provide evidence on lung cancer screening with low-dose CT in a general population to inform the delivery, quality and outcomes of lung cancer screening as it diffuses into clinical practice.
Henderson also received a renewal of a five year, $17 million award from the NCI as a co-investigator for a study called “Risk-Based Breast Cancer Screening in Community Settings.” Through collaborations with the Breast Cancer Surveillance Consortium, the project will provide evidence for guiding breast cancer screening and surveillance strategies tailored to an individual woman’s characteristics. Through three synergistic projects, the consortium will study the effectiveness of digital mammography, digital breast tomosynthesis and breast MRI as breast screening tools.
“Both of these research studies are critically important to advancing our knowledge base as we experience rapid changes in cancer screening at the population level,” Henderson said.