New guidelines say more current and former smokers should get screened on a yearly basis. New treatments for lung cancer make early detection of the lethal disease more important.
A patient gets a low-dose CT scan to screen for lung cancer. The American Cancer Society on Wednesday recommended expanding who should have this annual screening test.A patient gets a low-dose CT scan to screen for lung cancer. The American Cancer Society on Wednesday recommended expanding who should have this annual screening test.Lung cancer is the country's most lethal cancer, with over 127,000 people dying of the disease every year.
"There are so many new treatments out now for lung cancer, so many new targeted therapies, that the chances for survival is so much better if one is diagnosed earlier on," Dahut says. The new recommendations expand the age range for testing, to between 50 and 80. Previously, the age range had been 55 to 74. The group is also getting rid of a barrier to screening for former smokers. The previous guidelines said if you quit smoking more than 15 years ago, you didn't necessarily need to be screened. Now even someone who quit 40 years ago might be eligible to be screened.
Screenings are reserved for current smokers and people who smoked heavily in the past in that age range. This is defined as at least a pack a day for 20 years. However, the American Cancer Society has a"pack year" measurement to quantify very heavy smoking. For example, someone who smoked two packs a day for 10 years is equivalent to 20"pack years" and should be screened yearly starting at age 50 under the new guidelines.
Anyone at any age can get lung cancer. However, lung cancer mainly occurs in older people, as most people diagnosed with the disease are aged 65 or older, ACS says.
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