Latvia lacks lung cancer screening and access to modern treatments, doctor warns
Latvia diagnoses about 1,200–1,300 new lung cancer cases each year, and roughly 1,000 patients die from the disease, largely due to late diagnosis. Experts are calling for a national screening programme, already piloted in Estonia and Lithuania.
Latvia records around 1,200–1,300 new lung cancer diagnoses every year, while about 1,000 people die from the disease annually. Five-year survival remains at just 15–20%, largely because roughly three-quarters of cases are detected only at advanced stages.
Lung cancer is the second most common cancer among men in Latvia and the fifth most common among women. According to data from Pauls Stradiņš Clinical University Hospital councils covering 2020–2022, about 19% of patients receive no treatment at all, rising to around 70% for small-cell lung cancer, as their overall health condition does not allow it.
Systemic obstacles to treatment
While the patient pathway from suspected diagnosis to treatment is formally defined — a specialist consultation within 10 days, followed by examinations and a multidisciplinary panel decision within a month — in practice the process often stalls, particularly while waiting for biomarker test results. This forces doctors to start treatment with conventional chemotherapy even though personalised therapy could be more effective. Delayed diagnosis directly affects survival: starting targeted therapy on time can extend survival by a year.
A major obstacle is a shortage of medical staff — of about 70 chemotherapists in Latvia, only around 30 actively treat patients, and pulmonologists, radiologists and pathologists face similar overload. Funding for modern medicines is also limited: of 44 treatment scenarios recommended by European guidelines for non-small-cell lung cancer, only nine are fully reimbursed in Latvia.
Screening could change the picture
Low-dose CT screening for high-risk, symptom-free patients is considered the most effective way to detect the disease earlier. In countries where such programmes operate, up to 70% of cases are caught early, and mortality falls by 20–25%.
Estonia has run a screening pilot since 2022 and Lithuania since 2024, while Latvia continues to delay a decision. A planned Latvian pilot would involve about four thousand patients over three years, at an estimated annual cost of around €100,000. Before it can launch, questions remain about having enough radiologists and radiographers, setting precise eligibility criteria, and establishing centralised data management.
