Improving Incidental Lung Nodule Follow-up, with Javier Zulueta, MD

Incidental lung nodule (ILN) programs fill a significant gap in care by identifying ILNs and coordinating follow-up care to significantly improve follow-up rates for ILNs. One such program was recently started at Mount Sinai in New York, and clinicians presented 2 year data from the program at the recent American Thoracic Society (ATS) International Conference 2025 in San Francisco, California, from May 17-21.

HCPLive spoke to investigator Javier Zulueta, MD, Senior Faculty and Chief of the Division of Medicine (Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine) at Mount Sinai Morningside, to learn more about the program and the findings presented at the conference. He discussed unmet needs with current management of ILNs, which are often lost to follow-up.

Zulueta shared highlights from the program over its last 2 years. Him and his colleagues found that ILNP intervention led to 428 follow-up CT scans, 47 PET scans, 489 lung nodule clinic visits, 61 biopsies, and 9 surgical procedures. ILNP identified 15 cases of lung cancer, with 10 detected in early stages, as well as 6 non-cancerous conditions, including tuberculosis, nontuberculous mycobacteria, and sarcoidosis. Furthermore, the investigators found that the follow-up rate for ILNs increased from 42% at baseline to 70% after 6 months of the program, with larger nodules having higher follow-up completion rates.

“ILN programs are detecting, in some instances, and this has been published, 5 times more cancers than lung cancer screening programs. So, I encourage everybody who is working in the field of lung nodules and diagnostic diagnosis of lung cancer that they consider implementing ILN programs using these new AI tools that are becoming available,” Zulueta said.

Zulueta’s disclosures include Median Technologies, Heart Lung Technologies, and Oncoswab.

REFERENCE

Qi J, Lam NL, Akeke OF, et al. Management of Lung Nodules: A Two-year Follow-up Study of an Innovative Lung Nodule Program. Presented at: ATS International Conference 2025; San Francisco, California; May 17-21. Poster #620.