Denise Lee smoked up to two packs a day for 40 years, but when she quit at 54, Denise made one more lifesaving decision.<\/p>\n
After seeing an American Lung Association billboard that read \u201cIf you smoked, this lung cancer screening could save your life,\u201d Denise scheduled a low-dose CT scan. The next day, her results came back: a mass was detected, which they later confirmed was lung cancer.<\/p>\n
When she scheduled the scan, Denise had yet to develop a single symptom \u2014 and catching her lung cancer that early meant she had multiple treatments available. It\u2019s been eight years since, and Denise remains cancer-free.<\/p>\n
Lung cancer screening is a simple, quick, painless and non-invasive procedure. A low-dose CT scan takes less than a minute and, as Denise knows, it could save your life. <\/p>\n
I\u2019ve dedicated my life to advocating for healthy lungs, starting as a regional program director of the American Lung Association all the way to my current position as president and CEO. As such, I want anyone and everyone \u2014 especially those who\u2019ve smoked \u2014 to know how easy and effective a screening is.<\/p>\n
While we continue to make significant strides, lung cancer remains the top cause of cancer deaths in the U.S. \u2014 yet about only one quarter of lung cancer cases are caught early, when five-year survival rates are over 60%.<\/p>\n
Lung cancer often grows silently without any symptoms, which is precisely why early detection is so important and can lead to more effective treatment. But over 80% of high-risk current and former smokers haven\u2019t been scanned.<\/p>\n
Screenings are recommended for high-risk individuals \u2014 that includes current smokers, those who quit within the last 15 years, or ex-smokers between the ages of 50 and 80 who smoked a pack a day for 20 years (known as \u201c20 pack years\u201d) or the equivalent, such as two packs a day for 10 years.<\/p>\n
With recent medical advances, lung cancer screenings can now be conducted using low-dose CT scans. Patients simply lie down on a table while an open imaging machine takes pictures to examine lung health. Less than a minute long, the screening is completely painless, and most private insurance plans cover the test, as does Medicare. <\/p>\n
Of course, no one wants to hear that they may have lung cancer. <\/p>\n
But the head start afforded by a screening can make all the difference and open the door to more treatment options- from surgery to chemotherapy to newer advances like targeted therapy and immunotherapy. Early detection has turned lung cancer from a terminal diagnosis into an eminently treatable condition.<\/p>\n
In the past 10 years, these scans have saved 80,000 years of life \u2014 that\u2019s nearly 30 million more days spent with loved ones and friends. If every high-risk individual had been screened for lung cancer between 2013 and 2020, that number could have been more than six times higher \u2014 half a million years of life saved.<\/p>\n
If you think you might be at risk, it\u2019s now easier than ever to find out. <\/p>\n