Lung Cancer Screening Guidelines
Lung Cancer Screening Guidelines
Lung cancer is the leading cancer killer in both men and women in the U.S. according to the American Lung Association. One of the reasons is that it often is not detected until reaching more advanced stages. It’s estimated that 85% of lung cancer patients have no symptoms during early stages of the disease. The American Lung Association states that at least 8.6 million Americans are at high risk for developing lung cancer and are recommended to receive an annual screening with low-dose CT scans. Screening individuals at high risk can dramatically improve lung cancer survival rates by finding the disease at an earlier stage when it can be more successfully treated.
Low-dose CT scans are recommended for current smokers with a 20 pack-year smoking history and former smokers who quit within the past 15 years. At Orlando Health, we encourage you to consider and discuss screening options with your physician if you have quit smoking within the past 20 years versus 15 years.
Pack-year is equal to the number of packs smoked each day multiplied by the number of years smoked. For example, a person who smoked two packs a day for 10 years would have a 20 pack-year smoking history just like a person who smoked one pack a day for 20 years.
