What is Lung Cancer Screening?
Lung cancer screening can help find disease early, before symptoms occur.
What happens after the first screening LDCT?
- Follow-up or yearly screening LDCT
- Your doctor will compare your second screening test to the first screening test and decide when the next follow-up test will happen.
- Follow-up screening is done to check on your lungs at certain time points like months or years.
When should I start screening?
| Ideally start start before you have symptoms | Symptoms can include: cough that lasts, blood in mucus, shortness of breath, wheezing, pain in chest area, tiredness that lasts, pneumonia, hoarse voice, pain when swallowing, and weight loss. |
| Find out your level of risk | Screening for lung cancer is an option for two high-risk groups: • People 55-74 years old, who have smoked for 30 or more pack years, who quit less than 15 years ago. • People 50 years old and over, who have smoked for 20 or more pack years, and have at least one more risk factor other than second-hand smoke. |
Pack years – It is calculated by multiplying the number of packs of cigarettes smoked per day by the number of years the person has smoked. For example, 1 pack-year is equal to smoking 20 cigarettes (1 pack) per day for 1year, or 40 cigarettes per day for half a year, and so on.
What is a LDCT (low-dose computed tomography)?
| LDCT | LDCT takes many pictures of the inside of your body from different angles using CT scan. The amount of radiation used is much lower than standard doses of a CT (computed tomography) scan. |
| First LDCT | If you are high risk for lung cancer you will have a LDCT test. Your doctor will check for anything abnormal like a lung nodule. |
| Lung nodules | Screening with LDCT is used to find nodules in the lungs. Nodules are small, round areas of abnormal tissue. |