Health
Lung Cancer Screenings: 5 Million Adults Urged to Take Action
Even if you haven’t touched a cigarette in decades, you might still need an annual lung cancer screening. This is based on the latest recommendations from the American Cancer Society (ACS).
The updated guidelines now suggest that adults aged 50 to 80 who currently smoke or have smoked the equivalent of one pack a day for 20 years should undergo an annual low-dose computed tomography scan (CT scan). This recommendation stands regardless of how long ago they quit smoking.
These new criteria, detailed in the journal CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians, expand screening recommendations to an additional 5 million adults.
Previously, the ACS guidelines stated that individuals no longer needed annual cancer screening if it had been 15 years since they quit smoking. It was also only recommended for current or former smokers between the ages of 55 to 74 who had smoked the equivalent of one pack a day for 30 years or more.
Robert Smith, the lead author of the guidelines and senior vice president of early cancer detection science at the cancer society, noted in a news release that the change is based on new studies.
These studies “have shown extending the screening age for persons who smoke and formerly smoked, eliminating the ‘years since quitting’ requirement and lowering the pack per year recommendation could make a real difference in saving lives.”
Maher Karam-Hage, M.D., professor of behavioral science at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, highlighted the broader impact of these changes. He mentioned that broadening the eligibility criteria will help to “include more women and minorities, who typically smoke fewer cigarettes daily.”
“Reducing the age and pack-year requirements allows them to qualify sooner, potentially leading to earlier detection of any suspicious nodules or masses,” he told AARP in an email.
Pack-year is a measure used to describe how many cigarettes a person smoked and for how long. For instance, a person would have a 20-pack-year history if they smoked one pack a day for 20 years, or two packs a day for 10 years.
Let us know what you think, please share your thoughts in the comments below.
Ingegerd Enscoe
September 19, 2024 at 1:09 pm
A pulmonary nodule was discovered on a chest X-ray after treatment for pneumonia. It was followed for 2-3 years until it had grown by 2-3 mm last year. A biopsy showed adenocarcinoma, stage 1. I received radiation a year ago and I’m followed every 4 months at this point.
I quit smoking 45 years ago after smoking 15 years1-2 packs a day.
I’m lucky it was discovered so early.