Lung cancer remains the leading cause of cancer deaths in the U.S. Although survival rates are much higher with early detection of lung cancer, only 15 percent of patients with lung cancer are diagnosed with early-stage disease.
Recent studies involving the use of low-dose CT of the chest suggest that screening can improve survival by as much as 20 percent by detecting lung cancer earlier.
For this reason, we partnered with St. Luke’s University Hospital and Health Network when they launched a Lung Cancer Screening Program that offers low-cost service based on state-of-the-art screening methods for lung cancer in high-risk patients. This effort is backed by the support of a Multidisciplinary Lung Tumor Working Group and Tumor Board that includes physicians in medical oncology, pulmonology, dedicated thoracic surgery, radiation oncology, pathology and radiology. These distinguished physicians have worked together closely for more than a decade.
As a first step, patients concerned about their smoking history and lung cancer risk should have a conversation with their primary care physician about the potential benefits of low-dose CT lung cancer screening at a St. Luke’s imaging facility.