A panel of medical experts is proposing an annual lung cancer screening for older and longtime smokers as part of their campaign to save more lives through early detection.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more people die of lung cancer than any other type. The health institute has recorded 205,974 people diagnosed with lung cancer in 2009 with a mortality rate of 76 percent despite the different programs the government has to prevent or control it. Smoking is the main source of lung cancer followed by secondhand smoke.
The medical experts of the United States Preventive Services Task Force presented new evidences using the data from the National Lung Screening Trial (NLST), a research study sponsored by the National Cancer Institute which uses two screening methods: chest X-rays and low-dose helical CT scans. There was a previous attempt to use the low-dose CT scans to detect lung cancer early but it was held because the test was proven highly prone to false positives which may result to unnecessary treatments.
The medical experts decided to narrow the test and limit it to those at highest risk in which they found out that the low-dose helical CT scans will be more accurate. The new proposal is to have older people with ages 55 to 80 who smoke at least a pack of cigarette a day for at least 30 years time subject for annual lung cancer screening.
USPSTF Chairwoman Virginia Moyer hopes to have this proposal approved to save more lives as the disease is not discovered until its advanced stage. That is the reason why the mortality rate is too high; patients are on a stage wherein the doctors are unable to cure them.
The American Cancer Society, the American Lung Association, and the Medical Imaging & Technology Alliance have also expressed their support to the new proposal. The panel is accepting comments and suggestions until Aug. 26 before they submit their final proposal.
Part the proposal is to have the government cover the expenses for the annual screening as well as the preventive services.
