Lung Cancer
Lung cancer screening can find lung cancer before symptoms appear. When lung cancer is found at an early stage, treatment is most effective. It’s important to know if you may be at risk and if you should consider screening.
Talk to your primary care provider to learn about your risk and if lung cancer screening is right for you by scheduling an appointment. Need a provider? Find a primary care provider near you.
Who Should Get Screened for Lung Cancer?
Lung cancer screening is recommended for people who are at a high risk of developing lung cancer. You should consider screening if you meet all of the following criteria:
- If you are between the ages of 50 and 77. Most people who are diagnosed with lung cancer are 65 or older. Age criteria may also depend on your insurance company.
- If you are in generally good health. Those who have poor lung function or other serious health conditions may not benefit from lung cancer screening. Serious health conditions can make treatment or surgery challenging.
- If you currently smoke or have quit in the last 15 years. Adults with a history of smoking are at a high risk for lung cancer. Smoking causes around 80% to 90% of lung cancer deaths.
- If you have a history of smoking for 20 pack years or more. A pack year is smoking an average of one pack of cigarettes per day for one year. For example, a person could have 20 pack years of smoking history after smoking one pack a day for 20 years or two packs a day for 10 years.
Why Lung Cancer Screening Is Important
Lung cancer accounts for one in five cancer deaths. More people die of lung cancer than of colon, breast and prostate cancers combined.
What Is a Lung Cancer Screening?
Our providers use a low-dose computerized tomography (LDCT) scan to create an image of the lungs and look for lung cancer. This scan only takes a few minutes and is not painful. If an abnormality is found, your provider may recommend getting a biopsy. During this procedure, a tissue sample is collected and further tested for cancer.
At Sanford Health, we use advanced robotic technology to diagnose lung cancer and other lung diseases. Often by the time people experience symptoms, lung cancer is in an advanced stage and treatment options are limited. By finding cancer early, we’re helping patients access treatment sooner and when it’s most effective.
How to Schedule a Lung Cancer Screening
The first step to screening is partnering with your primary care provider. Schedule a wellness visit with your provider by calling your local clinic or make an appointment on My Sanford Chart.
In most cases, lung cancer screenings are paid for by your insurance. Don’t let concerns about money be the reason you delay screening.
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Lung Cancer FAQs
What is lung cancer?
Cancer starts when cells divide and grow uncontrollably. Lung cancer starts in the lungs where it may then spread to other areas of the body, including lymph nodes or the brain. People who smoke have the greatest risk of lung cancer because cigarettes are a carcinogen that promotes cell mutation.
How have advancements in diagnostic technology led to earlier lung cancer diagnosis?
Using the MONARCH® Platform, our providers use robotic technology to perform bronchoscopies with advanced precision. During this procedure, a thin tube is passed down your nose or mouth, down your throat and into your lungs to allow doctors to look into your airways. This minimally invasive procedure makes it easier to diagnose lung cancer in small, hard-to-reach lung nodules.
We also provide minimally invasive lung biopsies using Ion, a robotic-assisted platform that uses shape-sensing technology to view hard-to-reach lung nodules in the peripheral lungs.
What are the types of lung cancer?
There are two main types of lung cancer:
- Small-cell lung cancer is less common and tends to grow and spread faster than non-small cell lung cancer.
- Non-small cell lung cancer is more common. The main subtypes of non-small cell lung cancer include adenocarcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma and large cell carcinoma.
How common is lung cancer?
Lung cancer is the second most common cancer. One in 16 men and one in 17 women will develop lung cancer in their lifetime.
The risk of developing lung cancer increases significantly for people who smoke. The risk is lower for people who do not smoke.
Who is at risk for lung cancer?
People who smoke. Smoking cigarettes is the leading risk factor for lung cancer, and smoking other tobacco products like cigars is also a major risk factor. Tobacco smoke contains thousands of unhealthy chemicals. When you smoke, you’re breathing this toxic mixture directly into your lungs.
People who have been exposed to secondhand smoke. Even if you don’t smoke, exposure to secondhand smoke from others increases your risk for lung cancer.
People with long-term exposure to radon. Radon is a gas that naturally occurs in rocks, soil and water. People can get exposed to radon if the gas leaks into their homes or workplaces. Because radon is odorless, tasteless and invisible to the naked eye, the only way to detect radon is to have your home or workplace tested.
People with exposure to asbestos and other chemicals. Exposure to asbestos, arsenic, beryllium, chromium, diesel exhaust, nickel, soot and certain forms of chemicals increase your risk for lung cancer.
People with a personal or family history of lung cancer. If you have previously had lung cancer or have other family members that do, you are at a higher risk for developing lung cancer.
What are the symptoms of lung cancer?
Symptoms of lung cancer often don’t appear until an advanced stage. They may look different for each person.
Lung cancer may cause:
- Coughing that doesn’t go away or gets worse
- Chest pain
- Coughing up blood
- Feeling very tired all the time
- Repeated pneumonia and swollen or enlarged lymph nodes in the chest area
- Shortness of breath
- Weight loss with no known cause
- Wheezing