Study Says Even Former Smokers Should Get Lung Cancer Screenings
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
A new study done at New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center found that smokers and former smokers, especially those age 50 and above, should be screened annually for lung cancer. They found that first-time tumor size and lung cancer stage have been linked to an asymptomatic population.
“People think that once you stop smoking, that’s it,” the chief of the imaging division at New York-Presbyterian, Dr. Claudia Henschke, told The New York Sun. “You do decrease your risk for heart disease, but you remain at risk for lung cancer for 20 to 30 years.”
The largest ever study to determine if annual computed tomography screenings are effective was done by the International Early Lung Cancer Action Program, which screened more than 30,000 men and women at 38 institutions around the globe. The study evaluated 438 lung cancers identified in I-ELCAP.
“Lung cancer typically is only noted when symptoms appear,” Dr. Henschke said. “The smaller the lung cancer is at diagnosis, the more likely it is to be stage 1, or curable.”
Although the study of CT scans is only a few years old, there is no supportive data that conclude it is an early detector for lung cancer. Many in the medical community also worry that the push to get patients screened annually may prove costly. A CT scan costs $300 a screening.
“It’s encouraging technology and a lot of lung cancer specialists believe in getting screened, but no one has the data to say it should be done,” the director of thoracic oncology and chief of thoracic surgery at Mount Sinai, Dr. Scott Swanson, told the Sun. “There is a lot of optimism in the test, but no one has shown if the cost effectiveness is significant for the patient,” he said.
Dr. Swanson said CT scans help in recognizing spots on the lung, but identifying whether they are cancerous or benign is the challenge.
“We need to be able to tell which ones are spots or scars,” Dr. Swanson said. “If we find a spot there is a 1% to 2% chance it may be lung cancer. We need to be able to tell which ones are cancers and which ones are benign,” he said.
Lung cancer specialists do agree that smokers and former smokers should consult with their doctors about screenings and find an experienced program that can help them identify cancers.
