International Journal of Medical Informatics

Summary: Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death worldwide. Early detection of individuals at risk of lung cancer is critical to reduce the mortality rate.

Using data from individual patient electronic health records (EHR’s), we retrospectively developed and prospectively validated an accurate risk prediction model of new incident lung cancer occurring in the next 1 year. Through statistical learning from the statewide EHR data in the preceding 6 months, our model was able to identify high-risk patients, which can be used in population health to inform early detection, preventive interventions and/or enable more focused diagnostics and surveillance.