# Research Project 3: Strengthening Awareness and Community Resources for Early Detection of LUng cancer through Navigation Guided Screening (SACRED LUNGS)

> **NIH NIH U19** · FRED HUTCHINSON CANCER CENTER · 2024 · $613,211

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in the United States, and lung cancer screening (LCS) has
been demonstrated to effectively reduce lung cancer mortality by 20-26% in eligible people. Despite 10 years of
recommendations endorsing screening, evidence suggests that real-world implementation of LCS has been
poor: Only 5-20% of all eligible patients have received guideline-concordant LCS. Studies reveal that uptake of
screening is even lower among racial and ethnic minoritized communities and those who face barriers related to
social determinants of health. American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) people have both the highest
prevalence of commercial tobacco smoking of any racial or ethnic group in the United States, and are the most
likely to meet eligibility criteria for screening. Despite this, there is almost no research on culturally-adapted and
effective interventions to support LCS in this population.
Patient navigation appears to be a promising intervention to enhance LCS care completion in underserved
patient populations. Patient navigation represent services delivered by a patient navigator to overcome barriers
and support the timely completion of recommended healthcare along a care continuum. Navigation appears to
be effective in underserved patient populations, and in randomized trials, may improve the likelihood of
completing LCS by up to 4-fold. Navigation may be a valuable approach in AI/AN communities; however it is
critical that this strategy is adapted to and evaluated in AI/AN community healthcare settings.
In prior partnership with a Tribal Epidemiology Center, we developed and piloted an approach to LCS navigation
by and for AI/AN people at-risk for lung cancer. The central objective of this proposal is to locally adapt and
comprehensively evaluating the effectiveness and implementation of this navigation intervention in partnership
with Western Washington state tribal groups spanning mixed rural-urban areas through a pragmatic hybrid
effectiveness-implementation trial. In the first aim, we will systematically adapt the intervention to local settings
and evaluate the impact of a navigation approach on completion of LCS through a randomized controlled trial.
In the second aim, we will use a mixed-methods approach to assess the barriers and facilitators to navigation
engagement and LCS care completion. Finally in the third aim, we will evaluate the maintenance and
sustainability of the navigation intervention after the clinical trial. The aims will span the dimensions of the
Exploration, Preparation, Implementation, and Sustainment (EPIS) Framework and will be grounded in an
integration of the Consolidative Framework for Implementation Research and an NIH-developed health
disparities framework tailored for AI/AN communities. Our team has extensive experience in LCS implementation
and disparities with expertise in adapting and evaluating pragmatic interventions in community settings. This
pro...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 11160299
- **Project number:** 1U19MD020533-01
- **Recipient organization:** FRED HUTCHINSON CANCER CENTER
- **Principal Investigator:** Matthew Adam Triplette
- **Activity code:** U19 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $613,211
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2024-09-21 → 2029-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/11160299

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 11160299, Research Project 3: Strengthening Awareness and Community Resources for Early Detection of LUng cancer through Navigation Guided Screening (SACRED LUNGS) (1U19MD020533-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/11160299. Licensed CC0.

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