More adults should be screened for lung cancer under updated guideline, American Cancer Society says

Lung cancer, the leading cause of cancer deaths in the United States, can be detected using a low-dose computed tomography or CT scan.

Nearly 5 million additional people are recommended to get screened for lung cancer under an updated guideline from the American Cancer Society, which expanded its recommendations to include older adults who smoke or formerly smoked — no matter how long ago they quit smoking.

Previously, the American Cancer Society recommended annual lung cancer screening for adults ages 55 to 74 with at least a 30 pack-year smoking history who either currently smoke or quit smoking less than 15 years ago. Now, the organization says how long ago you quit smoking should no longer be a factor in whether you get screened for lung cancer.

Additionally, the American Cancer Society’s updated guideline recommends against “using any duration of years since quitting smoking” as a criterion to start or stop lung cancer screening in former smokers who meet the age and pack-year eligibility criteria.

“I think the years quit was confusing to people,” said Dr. William Dahut, chief scientific officer for the American Cancer Society.

“First of all, lung cancer is a disease of the elderly, and so, basically, your risk starts becoming greatest once you’re in your 60s, which was probably during this time period when people were stopping to be screened,” he said. “Over time, we now see that the risk continues for men and women in their 60s and above, and so that is exactly the time when you should be screening because that’s when their cancer risk is actually the highest.” (Source: CNN)