lung cancer screening

Adherence to annual lung cancer screening with low-dose CT scans was only 22.3 percent among more than 1 million patients considered high risk who underwent baseline screening between 2015 and 2019. For individuals considered high risk based on age and smoking history, an annual lung scan of the chest has been recommended by the United …

“Unacceptably low” annual lung cancer screening adherence among high-risk patients Read More »

Less than 6 percent of eligible Americans have undergone lung cancer screening, according to the American Lung Association, a situation that is “simply unacceptable,” says Hossein Borghaei, D.O., chief of the division of thoracic medical oncology at Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia. An estimated 14.2 million Americans meet the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force …

Low lung cancer screening rates in the U.S. are ‘simply unacceptable’ Read More »

About one-quarter of the closest lung cancer screening facilities for Native Americans and Alaskan Natives was more than 200 miles away, according to a new study. The average distance for the three-quarters of facilities within 200 miles was about 44 miles. American Indian and Alaskan Natives have nearly three times higher incidence rates of lung …

Long distances to screening may perpetuate disparities in lung cancer for Native Americans and Alaskan Natives Read More »

Among current or former smokers, Blacks were 53 percent less likely than equally healthy Whites to undergo low-dose CT lung cancer screening, in a study of more than 14,000 U.S. patients aged 55 to 79. Unfortunately, this disparity occurs “despite the potential for greater benefit of screening this population,” said researcher Alison Rustagi of the …

Blacks half as likely as Whites to get lung cancer screening Read More »

New lung cancer screening eligibility criteria can eliminate the racial disparities in who qualifies for screening. Researchers applied the new criteria to a past study of nearly a thousand lung cancer patients in the Detroit, Michigan, area. Under the old criteria, 52% of White patients vs 42% of Black patients would have been eligible for …

New lung cancer screening guidelines may eliminate disparities between Blacks and Whites Read More »

Blacks referred to a dedicated lung cancer screening program, instead of to a general radiology department, are more likely to follow up positive screening results and more likely to continue undergoing annual screening. Dedicated or centralized programs actively recruit and guide patients through the entire screening and followup process. In a study of more than …

Centralized lung cancer screening programs more effective for Black patients Read More »

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has expanded eligibility for people with Medicare to get free lung cancer screening with low dose computed tomography (LCDT) by lowering the starting age for screening to 50 years and reducing the tobacco smoking history from at least 30 packs per year to at least 20 packs …

Medicare lowers starting age to 50 for free lung cancer screening Read More »

New recommendations for who should get CT lung cancer screening may provide more access to screening for African Americans, according to a new study that looked at how the new criteria would have worked in the past. The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force in 2021 changed its lung cancer screening eligibility guidelines to include adults …

New lung cancer screening guidelines may reduce disparities Read More »

Black and Hispanic smokers are still less likely to be eligible for lung cancer screenings than white counterparts, despite a federal effort to expand the screenings to more individuals. The change did increase overall eligibility from 11 percent to 14 percent of adults, but existing disparities among racial and ethnic groups persisted, according to researcher …

Expanding access to lung cancer screenings still leaves some at-risk Black and Hispanic smokers ineligible Read More »

“On the leaderboard for lung cancer mortality, Kentucky is number 1, Mississippi, number 2, Arkansas number 3, and Tennessee and West Virginia at number 4 and 5. At number 6 is Alabama, and then you have the Carolinas and Louisiana,” says Raymond U. Osarogiagbon, MD (above), of the Baptist Cancer Center in Memphis, Tennessee. “If …

Lung cancer death rates highest in states with lowest screening rates Read More »