Local hospitals screen smokers for cancer
Local hospitals are offering low-dose CT scans to smokers to screen for lung cancer.Date published: 10/17/2011
Heavy smokers who are worried about lung cancer can now be screened for the disease with low-dose CT scans.
Medical Imaging of Fredericksburg, a partnership of Mary Washington Healthcare and Radiologic Associates of Fredericksburg, began a screening program earlier this month. Spotsylvania Regional Medical Center also offers the service.
The screenings, aimed at current and former smokers, attempt to identify cancerous tumors early, when treatment can make a difference.
"The earlier the stage, the greater the chance for cure," said Dr. Stacy Moulton, a radiologist at Medical Imaging.
Medical Imaging's program is for people 55 to 75 years old who have smoked for 30 pack-years, the equivalent of a pack a day for 30 years.
At Medical Imaging, the scan costs $325; Spotsylvania Regional charges $375. Patients usually pay the fee, since insurance companies don't cover it. The program does not require a physician's referral.
The screenings at Medical Imaging are done on a standard CT machine, Moulton said. The machine is adjusted to produce about 21 percent of the radiation produced during a regular CT scan.
At Medical Imaging, a radiologist discusses the findings with the patient the same day and offers follow-up advice, if needed. At Spotsylvania Regional, a radiologist reviews the image, and a nurse contacts the patient within 48 hours to discuss the results.
Hospitals across the country are now offering low-dose CT lung cancer screenings after completion of the National Lung Screening Trial.
The massive trial, sponsored by the National Cancer Institute, started in 2002 and ended last year. It involved more than 53,000 current or former heavy smokers.
The trial found that low-dose CT scans were better than chest X-rays at finding early-stage lung cancers, leading to a 20 percent reduction in deaths from the disease.
However, the study also raised the possibility that some patients received treatment they did not need.
Many of the CT scans done during the study discovered suspicious spots or shadows on patients' lungs.
Forty percent of the participants had to have additional tests, usually additional CT scans. Nearly 95 percent of the retests were negative, meaning that the original findings did not indicate an actual problem.
Lung cancer accounts for more deaths than any other cancer, according to the American Cancer Society. The disease is expected to kill nearly 157,000 people in the United States this year.
Smoking is the leading cause of lung cancer. More than 69,000 adults in the Fredericksburg region are smokers.
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Medical Imaging of Fredericksburg set these criteria for its low-dose CT screening program. Participants must:
- Be 55 to 75 years old.
- Have a 30 pack-year smoking history. Pack-years are the number of packs smoked per day times the number of years smoked.
- Have no cancer diagnoses in the last five years.
- Have no treated pneumonia in the last three months.
New lung cancer patients: 137
Lung cancer patients, male: 110
Lung cancer patients, female: 83
Patients diagnosed at Stage IV, the most frequently diagnosed stage
--Mary Washington Healthcare, Annual Cancer Report, 2010
