Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: The demand for low-dose CT (LDCT) screening scans has increased steadily since 2021, when the US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) broadened lung cancer screening eligibility criteria, lowering the recommended age from 55 to 50 years and pack-year smoking history from 30 to 20 years. 1 Still, screening volumes have significant room to grow due to education and access disparities across various demographics."We estimate that about 15.3 million people in the United States are eligible for screening, and roughly [only] 16% of them get screened.We'd like to get a lot more," says Lary Robinson, MD, director of the Lung Cancer Early Detection Center for Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Florida, who points out that lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths in the United States 2 ."An estimated 80,000 lives could be saved per year if every eligible person were screened, because you'd find the cancer [which has no symptoms] at a curable and early stage."Treating early stage lung cancer, identified through screening, yields both better clinical outcomes and lower costs, and LDCT is the only proven way to find early stage lung cancer and improve cure rates, according to Dr. Robinson.Despite screening program growth across the United States, including the incorporation of mobile CT units, limited public awareness of lung cancer screening-and the nuanced eligibility guidelines that determine insurance coverage-has hindered widespread uptake of task force recommendations.
Source: Applied Radiology
Author: Kerri Reeves
Language: English
Subfield: Pulmonary and Respiratory Medicine
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W4416985367