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Abstract
Cancer is a collection of various diseases characterized by abnormal cell growth. Lung cancer is the top cancer killer and smoking remains the leading preventable cause of death. Furthermore, major disparities in smoking and lung cancer exist by education, income, and race/ethnicity. While tobacco control policies are the most effective strategies to prevent lung cancers, lung cancer computed tomography (CT) screening has also been shown to reduce lung cancer risk among heavy current and former smokers. The Cancer Intervention and Surveillance Modeling Network (CISNET) lung group develops and applies population models for lung cancer, quantifying the impact of tobacco control and CT screening on lung cancer and all-cause mortality. To date, this work has focused on the country as a whole and has yet to account for tobacco and lung cancer disparities by subgroup and region. The smoking and lung cancer models will incorporate other factors that reflect different smoking risks such as race/ethnicity, education, income, and geographic location. This will allow for analyses of the effects of tobacco control policies on smoking prevalence in relevant highrisk groups, and estimation of the impact of policies on health disparities in smoking and lung cancer outcomes.