National Lung Cancer Screening Program: Additional findings detected during lung cancer screening

Australia has launched a new National Lung Cancer Screening Program in July 2025. This is the third of a series of educational webinars planned in preparation for the new program delivered in collaboration with NWMPHN and The Royal Melbourne Hospital.

This session will cover additional findings, not related to lung cancer, which are detected during lung cancer screening. This session will focus on potentially clinically significant respiratory and cardiovascular additional findings. 

This session will also provide information about a new service at the Royal Melbourne Hospital to support primary care providers with the start of the National Lung Cancer Screening Program.

At the end of the session, audience members will be familiar with the different types of additional findings, how to assess potentially significant respiratory and cardiovascular additional findings, and local resources available. 

Speakers

Dr Asha Bonney is a Respiratory and Sleep Physician at the Royal Melbourne Hospital (RMH). Her other roles include Senior Research Fellow at the University of Melbourne, Respiratory and Sleep Physician at Eastern Health, and Member of the Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand Lung Cancer Working Party. She recently completed a PhD in the field of lung cancer screening and is the clinical lead of the Lung Nodule Clinic at RMH and lead of the Lung Nodule and Screening Program at RMH.

A/Prof Renee Manser is a Respiratory and Sleep Physician at the Royal Melbourne Hospital and Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre. She has a PhD in lung cancer screening and is an honorary Associate Professor in the Department of Medicine, University of Melbourne. A/Prof Renee Manser has extensive clinical experience in lung cancer diagnosis and management and is a Principal Investigator on the International Lung Screen Trial. A/Prof Manser is co-editor for the Cochrane Lung Cancer Review Group and a regular scientific reviewer for the Melbourne Health Human Research Ethics Committee.

Dr Alistair Miller is a respiratory and sleep physician at the Royal Melbourne Hospital and Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre.

Dr Kai Leong is a highly skilled multi-modality cardiac imaging specialist. He graduated with honours in medicine and surgery from the University of Melbourne in 2009 and completed his postgraduate training at the Royal Melbourne Hospital, including dual qualification in general medicine and cardiology, followed by an echocardiography fellowship. Awarded an EACVI/ESC grant, he pursued advanced imaging training in cardiac MRI and CT at Imperial College NHS Healthcare Trust and the Royal Brompton Hospital, London. Reflecting his expertise in advanced cardiac imaging, Dr. Leong is a fellow of the American Society of Echocardiography (FASE), European Association of Cardiovascular Imaging (FEACVI) and the Society for Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance (FSCMR).

To view the previous two recordings in the series, please visit the links below:

• National Lung Cancer Screening Program – What’s involved and how do I prepare? (25 February 2025)
• National Lung Cancer Screening Program: Essentials in pulmonary nodule management and risk factors (6 May 2025)

Learning outcomes:

By the end of this activity, participants will be able to:

• Differentiate between different types of additional findings 
• Identify and evaluate coronary artery calcification
• Identify and evaluate emphysema and interstitial lung abnormalities
• Explain the new lung cancer screening pulmonary nodule management pathways and HealthPathways