Finland: Lung Cancer Country Profile
Finland performs well on the scorecard, scoring ‘high’ in the treatment and R&D domains, ‘moderately high’ in the public health
domain, but ‘low ’ in the rapid diagnosis domain. Poor performance in this third domain is because the guidelines present neither
timeframes nor fast-tracking for diagnostic testing, nor is there a rapid referral pathway to secondary or tertiary care. The
National Cancer Control Plan also needs to be updated and include an implementation schedule and funding source. Additionally,
the guidelines should discuss shared decision-making. Tobacco and e-cigarette policies could be strengthened and the potential
of screening assessed in an evidence based manner. We discuss opportunities for improvement at the end of this country profile.
Including lung cancer in Finland’s successful National Respiratory Diseases Programme may offer an opportunity to change
attitudes, increase early detection, improve access to treatment, and impact policy. Workshop participants discussed attitudes
and stigma towards people with lung cancer. They noted how smokers are often reluctant to bring themselves forward for
screening because they feel the shame of a disease they perceive to have brought upon themselves. Participants also spoke about
the unconscious bias that some healthcare professionals have towards lung cancer patients. Building awareness about attitudes
along with recognising lung cancer as an important respiratory disease to be addressed may help to improve early detection and
outcomes in Finland. Due to the dual nature of the Finnish healthcare system where primary and specialised care are sometimes
quite distant from patients’ treatment perspective, participants felt that increased screening may force clinicians to pay more
attention to lung cancer.
Summary scorecard
Domain Austria Belgium Finland France Netherlands Norway Poland Romania Spain Sweden UKLung cancer
is a strategic
priorityM
Lung cancer
is a public
health issueMH
Lung cancer
is a race
against timeL
Lung cancer
is at a
crossroadsH
Lung cancer
is a focus for
researchH
KeyLow Moderately low Moderate Moderately high HighSponsored by