Cancer can strike at any age, often without symptoms. For many cancers, routine screening remains the best way to detect the disease early and reduce the risk of death.
For lung cancer, screening guidelines can vary, as the disease doesn’t always show obvious signals and can occur in both smokers and never-smokers.
Daniel J. Boffa, M.D., chair of the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer and a thoracic surgeon at Yale University, noted that lung cancer screening is “one of the most powerful ways” to boost survival.
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“It reduces the chance of people dying of lung cancer by 20%,” he told Fox News Digital.
The share of Americans who are eligible for screening but don’t comply translates to “tens of thousands of preventable deaths every year,” according to Boffa.
“I’m hoping that within four or five years, a screening CT scan will only be confirmatory after they have a positive blood test done at your doctor’s office,” he added.
That approach could make screening easier and potentially help detect more lung cancers, according to the doctor.
In a recent interview with Fox News Digital, Lary Robinson, M.D., an oncologist at Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Florida, noted that in most cases, early-stage lung cancer will not come with any symptoms.
In those who do have symptoms, however, the most common are related to the lungs, including a persistent cough, shortness of breath or coughing up blood.
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Unexplained weight loss can result from any form of cancer, according to the oncologist. Neurological symptoms, like persistent headaches, may also warrant seeing a doctor.
Current lung cancer screening guidelines recommend an annual low-dose CT scan for people between the ages of 50 and 80 who currently smoke or have a history of smoking or have at least a 20 pack-year history of smoking, according to the American Cancer Society (ACS).
Before making the decision to get screened, individuals should speak with their healthcare providers about the purpose of the screening and how it’s done, as well as the benefits, limits and possible harms, ACS advised.
Those who still smoke should be counseled about quitting and offered interventions and resources to help.
Individuals with serious health problems that will “likely limit” their lifespan should not be screened, according to ACS, as well as those who won’t be able to get treatment if lung cancer is detected.
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Although one out of seven lung cancers will affect someone who has never smoked, there is currently not a set screening guideline for never-smokers.
Finding individuals who would benefit from screening is an “intense area of research,” according to Boffa. For now, people with a direct family history of lung cancer without smoking should consider annual screenings, as should higher-risk demographics like Asian women.
“I would anticipate that in the next year or two, we will have better guidance for people who are at risk for lung cancer, but never smoked,” Boffa predicted.
Boffa noted that advances in lung cancer treatment have improved survival, even at advanced stages, so screening should not be viewed as a pathway to a terminal diagnosis.
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“People are really reluctant to be diagnosed with lung cancer because it does carry a stigma,” Boffa said. “For years, there was a reputation that it was a terminal diagnosis. It’s just been amazing what research has done for lung cancer.”
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Most screenings detect a lung nodule or other abnormality, which is more often an infection, scar or inflammation than a tumor, he said.
In about one-third of patients, lung cancer screenings also detect unrelated health issues, including the hardening of heart arteries or a nodule in another part of the body.
“The reality is over 99% of nodules are actually benign,” Boffa said. “And so, you need to have a conversation about what you are going to do with that information.”
“I think having that conversation ahead of time is really important so that expectations are set – it’s not uncommon to find something. Most of the time, it’s not something that’s going to affect how long you live.”
The doctor noted that the CT scan only takes a couple of minutes to perform and does not take place in an enclosed space like an MRI.
“People who get claustrophobic usually don’t have a hard time with lung cancer screening,” Boffa said. “And it usually takes a few days to get a report back.”
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For those who are over 50 with a history of smoking, Boffa reiterated that getting screened is “one of the most powerful things you can do to reduce your chances of having your life shortened by lung cancer.”