Smokers and former smokers who are 50 to 80 years old should get lung cancer screenings, according to the American Cancer Society (ACS). The new ACS guideline recommends yearly screening for lung cancer for people aged 50 to 80 years old who smoke or formerly smoked and have a 20-year or greater pack-year history.
The screening is for a low-dose computed tomography scan, or CT scan, according to a statement. The guideline for lung cancer screening hasn’t been updated since 2013. The guidelines were published in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians.
“This updated guideline continues a trend of expanding eligibility for lung cancer screening in a way that will result in many more deaths prevented by expanding the eligibility criteria for screening to detect lung cancer early,” said Robert Smith, PhD, senior vice president, early cancer detection science at the ACS, who is the lead author of the new guidelines.
“Recent studies have shown extending the screening age for persons who smoke and formerly smoked, eliminating the ‘years since quitting’ requirement and lowering the pack per year recommendation could make a real difference in saving lives,” Smith said.
“The modeling studies have estimated that nearly 5 million additional individuals will qualify for regular lung cancer screening,” the paper stated.
The guidelines differ from the previous guidelines because the old guidelines were for people 55 to 74; the new ones are for people from 50 to 80 years old. The new recommendations don’t take into account screening based on how many years you smoked; the old ones were from people who were within 15 years since quitting. The pack-year history used to be 30 in the previous version of the screening guidelines; now it’s greater than or equal to 20 years.
Adults with health conditions that would greatly limit life expectancy or affect their ability or willingness to get lung cancer treatment if diagnosed should not be screened for the disease, the author said.
