Lung cancer screening saves lives! More than 200,000 Americans are diagnosed with lung cancer every year, but early detection helps improves survival rates. That’s why California Pacific Medical Center (CPMC), as part of its Thoracic Oncology Program, offers low-dose radiation CT scans to people at high risk for lung cancer. 

A recent National Cancer Institute study gave annual low-dose CTs to people between the ages of 55 and 74 who had a heavy smoking history but were otherwise symptom-free. They found that the low-dose CTs improved mortality from lung cancer by 20 percent compared to screenings with annual chest x-rays.

CPMC offers screenings if you meet the following criteria as defined by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services: 

• You are 55-77 years old.
• You smoked the equivalent of a pack per day for 30 years.
• You are still smoking or quit smoking within the last 15 years.
• You are asymptomatic, have no weight loss or chronic cough, and are not coughing up blood.

After Your Screening

If your CT results are abnormal, the CPMC multidisciplinary diagnostic thoracic tumor board — a group of pulmonologists, medical oncologists, radiation oncologists, thoracic surgeons and radiologists who meet once a week — will review them and give you a recommendation. In the event that they recommend additional testing, a team of highly trained experts can perform minimally invasive biopsies or surgeries. You’ll also have the option of meeting with one of our pulmonologists specializing in lung nodule and lung cancer management.

What differentiates the Lung Cancer Screening Program at CPMC from those at other hospitals is that our program is led by pulmonary specialists. That’s because they have the expertise and experience to consider all possible diagnoses. Since the vast majority of abnormalities found on screening CTs turn out not to be cancer, their evaluations result in fewer unnecessary biopsies and surgeries.

How to Quit Smoking

The CPMC team can also help you quit smoking. As part of the Lung Cancer Screening Program, CPMC offers smoking cessation classes, where pulmonary specialists can assist you with this often difficult and challenging problem.