More Adults Should Be Screened for Lung Cancer Under New Guidelines from the American Cancer Society

The American Cancer Society has updated its lung cancer screening recommendations for the first time in a decade

Millions more Americans should be screened for lung cancer, according to updated guidelines from the American Cancer Society (ACS).

Earlier this week, the organization shared an update to its screening recommendations, the first time it has done so in a decade.

The ACS now recommends that men and women between the ages of 50 and 80 — who are current or former smokers and have 20 packs of cigarettes — get screened for lung cancer annually. (A hell year is defined as smoking an average of one pack of cigarettes per day for one year.)

The group recommends annual screening with a low-dose computed tomography scan, which, according to the American Lung Association, uses X-rays to combine images into a detailed picture of an individual’s lungs.

The previous recommendation, which was published in 2013, encouraged adults aged 55 to 74 to get screened if they smoked or stopped smoking less than 15 years ago and had a smoking history of 30 box years.

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The doctor is talking to the patient.

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Cases of cancer in adults under the age of 50 have increased dramatically worldwide

“This updated guideline continues the trend of expanding eligibility for lung cancer screening in a way that will result in many more deaths prevented by expanding screening eligibility criteria for early detection of lung cancer,” said Robert Smith, Ph.D., senior vice president of early cancer detection science at to the American Cancer Society and lead author of a report on lung cancer screening guidelines, the statement said.

“Recent studies have shown that raising the screening age for ex-smokers, eliminating the ‘years since quitting’ requirement and reducing the pack-year recommendation could really help save lives,” he added.

Lung cancer scan.

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Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death nationwide, according to the ACS.

The ACS estimates that in 2023, nearly 240,000 new cases of lung cancer will be diagnosed, and about 127,000 people will die from the disease.

And while anyone can get lung cancer despite their age, lung cancer tends to occur in older people, as most people diagnosed with the disease are age 65 or older, according to the ACS.

Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education