In recognition of November being National Lung Cancer Awareness Month, we would like to feature an article on lung cancer screening, as early detection is often the key to successful treatment and survivorship.
Most people know that we can use mammograms (X-rays of the breasts) to screen for breast cancer. Many people, however, do not know that we can use low-dose chest CT scans to do the same for lung cancer. The chest CT scan does not require an IV or contrast and is just like getting chest X-rays. The goal of the screening is to detect lung cancer at earlier stages. According to the American Cancer Society, the 5-year cancer survival for early and/or localized lung cancer is around 65%. If the cancer has already spread to lymph nodes, 5-year survival drops to about 37%. If the cancer has spread to other places, such as the brain, bones, liver, or the other lung, 5-year survival drops down to 9%. Therefore, there is a huge advantage to early detection.
Studies have shown that screening at-risk patients can reduce lung cancer deaths to about 75-85% of what we see if there is no screening. We will save one life for about every 300 chest CT screenings we do. The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) has been recommending low-dose CT screenings since 2013. They were so impressed by how many lives are saved by screening, that in 2021 they relaxed the guideline recommendations to allow even more patients to be screened. (They lowered the age from 55 to 50, and lowered the pack-years* from 30 to 20.)
Someone is considered at higher risk for lung cancer and eligible for low-dose CT scans for screening if:
- They are aged 50 to 80
- Have smoked for at least 20 pack years*
* Pack-years are obtained by multiplying the average number of packs a person has smoked per day by the number of years they have smoked. Therefore, one pack a day for 20 years gets you 20 pack years, but so does two packs a day for 10 years, or half a pack a day for 40 years.
Early detection is crucial for lung cancer, as catching the disease in its early stages significantly increases the chances of successful treatment and survival compared to when it is diagnosed at a later, more advanced stage.
At Pacific Cancer Institute (PCI), we do not want to just treat cancers, we want to help prevent as many cancers as possible or catch them as early as possible if they cannot be prevented. If you, or a loved one, have been diagnosed with lung cancer, please contact PCI to learn how we treat lung cancer with state-of-the-art and effective radiation therapy treatment. Treatments are outpatient procedures that are quick and safe. Contact us today to learn more.