If you’re a lifetime smoker, lung cancer screening is essential.
Lung cancer screening is mainly for middle aged and older smokers who have been heavy smokers most of their lives. Others who have had extensive exposure to second-hand smoke or other cancer-causing toxins, including radon, asbestos, silica, diesel exhaust and arsenic, are advised to discuss screening with their health care provider.
While several lung cancer screening tools have been developed, low-dose spiral CT (LDCT) scans were found to be better than chest x-rays at finding early-stage lung cancer and only LDCT has been proven effective in reducing the risk of dying from lung cancer.
|Any Age||Ages 55-80|
|Talk to your health care provider about whether you have an environmental risk for lung cancer, such as from occupational exposure to radiation or secondhand smoke. If you smoke, ask your provider for help to quit.||Annual screening with LDCT should be performed in adults ages 55 to 80 years who have a 30 pack-year* smoking history and currently smoke or have quit within the past 15 years. After 15 years quit, screening is no longer needed|
*1 pack-year = 1 pack per day for 1 year.