Exploring Primary Care Interventions to Increase Lung, Breast, and Cervical Cancer Screening With Individuals Experiencing Marginalization: A Scoping Review
9 affiliations
- 1Interdisciplinary Health Program, St. Francis Xavier University, Antigonish, NS, Canada
- 2Faculty of Health Sciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada
- 3Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada
- 4Schulich Library of Physical Sciences, Life Sciences and Engineering, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada
- 5Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
- 6Gastroenterology, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Center, Toronto, ON, Canada
- 7Department of Family and Community Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
- 8Peter Gilgan Center for Women’s Cancers, Women’s College Hospital, Toronto, ON, Canada
- 9Beatrice Hunter Cancer Research Institute, Halifax, NS, Canada
Abstract
Introduction: Screening for lung, breast, and cervical cancer can reduce morbidity and mortality by enabling earlier detection and treatment. However, participation remains below target levels, particularly among individuals experiencing marginalization. While primary care providers (PCPs) can play a key role in improving screening uptake, few reviews have focused on interventions targeting individuals experiencing marginalization that are aimed at PCPs, delivered by PCPs, or that occurred in a primary care setting.
Methods: The aim of this scoping review was to examine the extent and types of PCP interventions implemented to increase lung, breast, and cervical cancer screening uptake among individuals experiencing marginalization and identify gaps to inform future practice and research. We searched for studies of PCP interventions aimed at increasing lung, cervical, and/or breast cancer screening among marginalized populations in Ovid MEDLINE, Ovid Embase, Scopus, EBSCO CINAHL Complete and Ovid EBM Reviews - Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials from 2000 to March 31, 2022. Title, abstract, and full-text articles were screened, and data extraction was performed by three independent reviewers. The charted data were summarized using narrative synthesis.
Results: Forty-two studies were included: 13 for cervical cancer, 15 for breast cancer, one for lung cancer, and 13 on multiple cancer sites. Interventions included education (for both patients and PCPs), self-collected human papillomavirus (HPV) testing, patient navigation, clinic system tools, event-based, and multicomponent. Increases in screening rates were observed across various intervention types for breast and cervical cancer, with multi-site interventions evaluated based on their reported effects on breast and cervical cancer screening independently.
Conclusions: Educational interventions demonstrated the greatest effectiveness for breast cancer screening, and self-collected HPV testing demonstrated the greatest effectiveness for cervical cancer screening. There is a clear gap in the literature regarding interventions aimed at increasing lung cancer screening participation, and further research is needed to evaluate the effectiveness of such interventions. Screening programs and PCPs should consider targeted strategies to support greater participation among individuals experiencing marginalization.
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BibTeX
@article{jantzen2026exploring,
title = {{Exploring Primary Care Interventions to Increase Lung, Breast, and Cervical Cancer Screening With Individuals Experiencing Marginalization: A Scoping Review}},
author = {Etta Jantzen and Janina Althea Quiambao and Dominick LeBlanc and Alexandra Cernat and Sabine Calleja and Jill Tinmouth and Aisha K. Lofters and Arlinda Ruco},
journal = {Cancer Control: Journal of the Moffitt Cancer Center},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.1177/10732748261491707},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1177/10732748261491707},
note = {CC BY-NC 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Exploring Primary Care Interventions to Increase Lung, Breast, and Cervical Cancer Screening With Individuals Experiencing Marginalization: A Scoping Review
AU - Etta Jantzen
AU - Janina Althea Quiambao
AU - Dominick LeBlanc
AU - Alexandra Cernat
AU - Sabine Calleja
AU - Jill Tinmouth
AU - Aisha K. Lofters
AU - Arlinda Ruco
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/23
JO - Cancer Control: Journal of the Moffitt Cancer Center
DO - 10.1177/10732748261491707
UR - https://doi.org/10.1177/10732748261491707
AB - Introduction: Screening for lung, breast, and cervical cancer can reduce morbidity and mortality by enabling earlier detection and treatment. However, participation remains below target levels, particularly among individuals experiencing marginalization. While primary care providers (PCPs) can play a key role in improving screening uptake, few reviews have focused on interventions targeting individuals experiencing marginalization that are aimed at PCPs, delivered by PCPs, or that occurred in a primary care setting. Methods: The aim of this scoping review was to examine the extent and types of PCP interventions implemented to increase lung, breast, and cervical cancer screening uptake among individuals experiencing marginalization and identify gaps to inform future practice and research. We searched for studies of PCP interventions aimed at increasing lung, cervical, and/or breast cancer screening among marginalized populations in Ovid MEDLINE, Ovid Embase, Scopus, EBSCO CINAHL Complete and Ovid EBM Reviews - Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials from 2000 to March 31, 2022. Title, abstract, and full-text articles were screened, and data extraction was performed by three independent reviewers. The charted data were summarized using narrative synthesis. Results: Forty-two studies were included: 13 for cervical cancer, 15 for breast cancer, one for lung cancer, and 13 on multiple cancer sites. Interventions included education (for both patients and PCPs), self-collected human papillomavirus (HPV) testing, patient navigation, clinic system tools, event-based, and multicomponent. Increases in screening rates were observed across various intervention types for breast and cervical cancer, with multi-site interventions evaluated based on their reported effects on breast and cervical cancer screening independently. Conclusions: Educational interventions demonstrated the greatest effectiveness for breast cancer screening, and self-collected HPV testing demonstrated the greatest effectiveness for cervical cancer screening. There is a clear gap in the literature regarding interventions aimed at increasing lung cancer screening participation, and further research is needed to evaluate the effectiveness of such interventions. Screening programs and PCPs should consider targeted strategies to support greater participation among individuals experiencing marginalization.
SN - 1073-2748
SN - 1526-2359
ER -