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Lung CT screenings are used to check for lung cancer. Find out if you qualify for a screening.
About Lung Cancer ScreeningsImportance of Lung Cancer Screening in Louisville, KY
Baptist Health Louisville: Importance of Lung Cancer Screening
Lung cancer screening can diagnose patients in the early stages and improve overall survival rate. Learn more about CT lung cancer screening and its criteria.
Importance of Lung Cancer Screening in Louisville, KY HealthTalks Transcript
Angela Mahan, MD, Thoracic Surgery:
Lung cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in the state of Kentucky. In the U.S., it’s the second most commonly diagnosed cancer. Lung cancer does affect smokers. Eighty-five percent of people diagnosed with lung cancer have in some form in their lifetime used either cigarettes or vaping. Early stage lung cancers are asymptomatic.
Lung CT screening really became a thing when the National Lung Screening Trial started in 2002. The reason screening makes such a huge difference is that if we’re able to find a lung cancer when it’s stage 1 or stage 2, we can improve the overall survival of that patient and lessen the amount of treatment they would actually need to have.
The criteria for lung cancer screening is if the patient is asymptomatic, between the ages of 55 and 74, has a greater than 30-pack-per-year history of smoking, or is a current smoker or quit smoking within 15 years. Lung cancer is 100% treatable. With all of the new treatments we’re developing and all of the targeted therapies, the five-year survival for lung cancer is so much better than it was 10 years ago. All of this is very encouraging.
