A collection of more than 100 public, private and voluntary organizations is urging all smokers to undergo low-dose CT lung screenings to hopefully catch cancer before it’s too far gone. Radiologists can play a key role, too, in helping to promote this essential imaging safeguard, and educating their employees.
The National Lung Cancer Roundtable made the call to action last week to coincide with the start of Lung Cancer Awareness Month. They noted that more than 220,000 Americans are diagnosed with the disease annually, and 142,000 eventually die from it, more than breast, colon and prostate cancers combined. The group is urging any long-term or former smoker between the ages of 55 to 80 to talk with their provider about undergoing a low-dose computed tomography exam.
“Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in men and women. Finally, we have a screening exam that will make a major impact and change the face of lung cancer for the future to a survivable cancer, not a death sentence,” Ella Kazerooni, MD, chair of the National Lung Cancer Roundtable and a professor of radiology and internal medicine at the University of Michigan, said in a statement.
The roundtable is a collaboration of numerous stakeholders in lung cancer care, including the American College of Radiology, American Cancer Society and the American Lung Association. As part of its campaign, it also released several new videos, infographics and research studies to help radiologists promote low-dose CT screenings. They’ve also released updated guidelines on getting screened, along with educational tools for radiologists and other providers.
Richard Wender, MD, chief cancer control officer for the American Cancer Society, noted these are exciting times for imaging experts and other professionals working to eradicate lung cancer.
“After decades of having little to offer adults at high risk for lung cancer, we’ve entered a new era where we now have evidence that lung cancer screening saves lives, and new targeted therapies and immunotherapy are offering new hope to patients diagnosed with advanced lung cancer,” he said in a statement.
For more information, visit the National Lung Cancer Roundtable’s website at NLCRT.org.
Marty Stempniak has covered healthcare since 2012, with his byline appearing in the American Hospital Association's member magazine, Modern Healthcare and McKnight's. Prior to that, he wrote about village government and local business for his hometown newspaper in Oak Park, Illinois. He won a Peter Lisagor and Gold EXCEL awards in 2017 for his coverage of the opioid epidemic.