New recommendations from the
American Cancer Society say that older current or former heavy smokers may want
to consider low-dose CT scans to help screen for lung cancer.
Specifically, that includes those
aged 55 to 74 with a 30 pack-year smoking history who still smoke or who had
quit within the past 15 years. Pack-years are a calculation made by multiplying
the number of packs of cigarettes smoked a day by the number of years of
smoking.
"Even with screening, lung
cancer would remain the most lethal cancer," said Dr. Norman Edelman,
chief medical officer at the American Lung Association. He noted the cancer
society guidelines are similar to the ones from the lung association.
The new recommendation follows on
the results of a major U.S. National Cancer Institute study, published in 2010
inRadiology, that found that annual CT screening for lung cancer for
older current or former smokers cut their death rate by 20 percent.
Edelman stressed that the study
does nothing to change the fact that smoking prevention and cessation remain
the most important public health challenge there is.
"Screening is not a way to
make smoking safe from cancer deaths, and certainly does nothing to prevent
smoking-related deaths from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and heart
disease," he added.
The cancer society recommendations
also emphasize smoking cessation counseling as a high priority and stress that
CT screening is not an alternative to quitting smoking.
CT screening should only be done
after a discussion between patients and their doctors so people fully
understand the benefits, limitations and risks of screening. In addition,
screening should only be done by someone experienced in low-dose CT lung cancer
screening, the cancer society stressed.
These new guidelines were published
in the Jan. 11 online edition of CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians.
Results from the 2010 trial
indicated that deaths from lung cancer in specific high-risk groups could be
reduced by annual CT screening. "These findings indicate that the adoption
of lung cancer screening could save many lives," the cancer society
concluded.
As with any guidelines, however,
recommendations may change over time as more people are screened and new data
are analyzed.
Despite the lifesaving benefits of
screening, there are still some harms and limitations. Among these are missed
cancers, anxiety caused by abnormal results, the need for additional tests and
biopsies, investigation of other findings not related to lung cancer and
exposure to radiation from repeated testing, the cancer society noted.
The cancer society hopes these
guidelines will help inform people at high risk for lung cancer about finding
lung cancer early, when it has the best chance of being treated.
Many questions remain, Edelman
noted.
"The most prominent is which
groups who have lower risks of lung cancer than the group studied will benefit
from screening. That is, at what point, in terms of risk factors, will the
risks of radiation and biopsy of benign tumors outweigh the risk of
cancer," he said.
There are not only important
medical questions, but also economic ones since issues of increased costs and
insurance coverage are yet to be addressed, Edelman said.
Another expert, Dr. Michael Unger,
a doctor with Allied Healthcare Associates in Northbrook, Ill., said that
"it has been proven repeatedly that mere chest X-ray screening is
insufficient to provide any benefit to survival."
That said, there have been several
studies showing a survival benefit by screening high-risk individuals with low
dose CT scans, he added.
"Whether or not such
screening recommendations are accepted by Medicare and private insurance
companies will eventually determine how broadly these recommendations are
implemented," Unger said. "I believe only a small number would pay
for such a scan out of their own pocket."
More information
For more on lung cancer, visit the American Cancer Society.
SOURCES: Norman Edelman, M.D.,
chief medical officer, American Lung Association; Michael Unger, M.D., Allied
Healthcare Associates, Northbrook, Ill.; Jan. 11, 2013, CA: A Cancer
Journal for Clinicians, online
Copyright © 2013 HealthDay.
All rights reserved.
i really enjoyed this information. It is very informative post..
ReplyDeleteBest Electronic Cigarettes
Right now it seems like BlogEngine is the preferred blogging platform out there right now.
ReplyDelete(from what I've read) Is that what you're using on your blog?
My homepage :: Webcam site
Colorectal cancer, cancer of the large intestine, is the fourth most common cancer in North America. Many cases of colorectal cancer are associated with low levels of physical activity and with diets that are low in fruits and vegetables. Individuals with a family history of the disease have a higher risk. I crumble with this disease for 5 years also with a lot of scaring thought in my head because i was just waiting for death every day of my life until My Son came to me in the hospital explaining to me that he has find a herbal healer from Nigeria to cure my Colo-Rectal Cancer,I was so shocked with the ideal also i was excited inside of me.My son asked me to let us give him a try because we have really heard a lot of scammer pretending to cure all sort of diseases with herbal medicine and some of them never get a positive result at the end of it all but we was very confident on this herbal doctor,like i said we give him a try and he sent me a herbal medicine to drink for three weeks, Sincerely I'm telling you today I' alive and healthy no more laying on sick bed,No more Colo-Rectal Cancer.I'm sharing this testimony on here for people who are sick to contact this Wonderful man,His name is Dr Itua.And His contact Whatsapp_+2348149277967____Email... drituaherbalcenter@gmail.com.He can cure those diseases like:Bladder cancerBreast cancerColorectal cancerKidney cancerLeukemiaLung cancerNon-Hodgkin lymphomaProstate cancerSkin cancerUterine cancerParkinson's,Alzheimer’s disease,Bechet’s disease,Crohn’s disease
ReplyDelete,Cushing’s disease,Heart failure,Multiple Sclerosis,Hypertension,Colo_Rectal Cancer,Lyme Disease,Blood Cancer,Brain Cancer,Breast Cancer,Lung Cancer,Kidney Cancer, Spell,Stroke,Lottery Spell,disease,Schizophrenia,Cancer,Scoliosis,Fibromyalgia,Fluoroquinolone Toxicity Syndrome Fibrodysplasia Ossificans Progressiva.Infertility,Tach Disease ,Epilepsy ,Diabetes ,Coeliac disease,,Arthritis,Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis,Alzheimer's disease,Adrenocortical carcinoma.Asthma, (measles, tetanus, whooping cough, tuberculosis, polio and diphtheria)Allergic diseases.Parkinson's disease,Schizophrenia,Lung Cancer,Breast Cancer,Colo-Rectal Cancer,Blood Cancer,Prostate Cancer,siva.Fatal Familial Insomnia Factor V Leiden Mutation ,Epilepsy Dupuytren's disease,Desmoplastic small-round-cell tumor Diabetes ,Coeliac disease,Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease,Cerebral Amyloid Angiopathy, Ataxia,Arthritis,Amyotrophic Lateral Scoliosis,Fibromyalgia,Fluoroquinolone Toxicity
Syndrome Fibrodysplasia Ossificans ProgresSclerosis,Seizures,Alzheimer's disease,Adrenocortical carcinoma.Asthma,Allergic diseases.Hiv_ Aids,Herpe ,Copd,Glaucoma., Cataracts,Macular degeneration,Cardiovascular disease,Lung disease.Enlarged prostate,Osteoporosis.
Dementia.,Hiv_ Aids,Herpes,Inflammatory bowel disease ,Copd,Diabetes,Hepatitis
Love Spell,Diabetes.