Lung Cancer Screening Program 

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This information is intended to serve as a guideline only. Screening needs vary for each individual depending on your overall cancer risk. Please consult with a health care professional to decide which screenings are right for you and to make an informed decision.

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A lung cancer screening program requires a multidisciplinary approach, with physicians of different disciplines all collaborating to monitor changes in a patient’s lung screening CT scans over time. In addition, benign lung nodules are found very frequently in lung cancer screening studies.

The CT scans are interpreted by a radiologist. Abnormalities identified may include nodules of various sizes, scarring, and emphysema (also called COPD). The CT may also detect abnormalities in other parts of the chest such as the heart, blood vessels and bones. Any abnormality detected will be considered a positive scan by the radiologist. Many smokers or former smokers will have findings that could be caused by inflammation, scarring or lung diseases other than lung cancer. Follow-up with a Karmanos Cancer Institute Lung Specialist or your primary health care provider may be recommended by the radiologist for further diagnostic tests. It is important to note that a recommendation for further tests does not necessarily mean that lung cancer is suspected.

A CT (Computerized Tomography) scan consists of taking pictures of the inside of the entire chest in about five to ten seconds. The CT scan can detect small lung abnormalities.

Your CT lung screening study at Karmanos is tailored to detect lung nodules and minimize your exposure to x-ray radiation. The amount of radiation for the low-dose lung screening CT is five times less than the exposure for a full-dose diagnostic CT chest scan. It is also about one-half the amount a person living at sea level would be exposed to from natural sources over the course of one year.

• Lung cancer is the growth of cancer cells in the lungs.
• The two main types of lung cancer are non-small cell lung cancer (the most common) and small cell lung cancer.
• Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death for both men and women in the United States.
• More people die from lung cancer than from colon, breast and prostate cancers combined.

Screening CT scans are used solely to detect new lung nodules.

In the National Lung Screening Trial, approximately 25 percent of individuals had findings requiring further follow up with a physician. Not all of these individuals had lung cancer..

Four percent of participants in the NLST who had a positive finding on their CT scan had lung cancer. Other positive scans represented either false positives (resulting from scar tissue or other benign lesions) or other medical conditions.

In the NLST, approximately 14 percent of individuals had clinically significant findings, other than lung cancer, that required additional investigation. These abnormalities include lung disease, aortic aneurysm, and tumors other than lung cancer.

The Lung Cancer Screening Program at Karmanos Cancer Institute consists of annual CT scans. Screening for lung cancer is a process, and cannot be completed with a single test.

No further action is necessary until your next annual screening CT scan.

Positive findings are based on the CT interpretation by the radiologist. These positive findings could be significant or minor. We recommend a follow up visit with a Karmanos lung specialist or your primary health care provider to discuss the results of the CT scan and determine if further tests are necessary. You can call 1-800-KARMANOS or the lung cancer screening line at 855-527-5864 to make an appointment with a Karmanos lung specialist.

• Smoking causes 80-90 percent of lung cancer.
• Tobacco contains at least 60 cancer-causing substances.
• Men and women who smoke are 23 percent and 13 percent, respectively, more likely to get lung cancer than someone who never smoked.
• The longer you smoke and the more packs a day you smoke increase the risk of getting lung cancer.
• Second-hand smoke (breathing in someone else’s smoke) increases the risk of getting lung cancer.

Early detection of lung cancer increases the chance for successful treatment. Screening for cancer is done with low-dose spiral computed tomography (CT scan). CT scans use low doses of radiation to take detailed pictures of the lungs. Positron emission (PET) scans may be used to look for the spread of cancer. The lung cancer specialists at Karmanos recommend screening for:

• Individuals between the ages of 55 and 80
• Current or former smokers with at least a 20 pack-year smoking history
• Individuals who have smoked one pack a day for 20 years or 2 packs a day for 10 years
• Former smokers who have quit smoking in the last 15 years

To make an appointment or to ask questions about lung cancer screening, call 855-527-LUNG (5864).

The best evidence we have limits screening recommendations to adults between the age of 55 and 80 who have been heavy smokers.

The CT scans will be used to evaluate your lung health and to detect changes that occur over time. A radiologist will review your CT scans for abnormalities, and will track any changes that occur from year to year. We will send you and your primary health care provider copies of the results. Just because the first scan is clear, participants should continue to receive yearly scans in order to ensure that new nodules have not developed.

As a cancer hospital, our specialists are dedicated to the treatment of cancer. If an abnormality unrelated to cancer is found during a CT scan, we need to ensure that participants of the program have a primary care physician to perform follow-up exams and care. This requirement is specifically for the safety and well being of our program participants.

The Karmanos Cancer Institute is a National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive comprehensive cancer center. Karmanos is the only hospital in Michigan dedicated exclusively to fighting cancer. The Thoracic Oncology Multidisciplinary Team at Karmanos participating in this program includes surgeons, medical oncologists, pulmonologists, radiation oncologists, radiologists, pathologists and research coordinators. The experts in this team focus primarily on the diagnosis and treatment of lung cancer and therefore have a level of expertise that other centers may not have. Lung cancer screening may indicate further follow-up that requires this level of expertise. The level of expertise at Karmanos ensures that your CTs will be read and analyzed by physicians who diagnose and treat cancer exclusively.

Not every smoker will develop lung cancer, which is the leading cause of cancer deaths in the United States. Studies show, however, that approximately 10-15 percent of smokers will develop lung cancer. The National Lung Screening Trial (NLST), a study of more than 50,000 current or former smokers aged 55-75, conducted by the National Cancer Institute found that early detection of lung cancer increases the likelihood of successful treatment and reduces the risk of dying from lung cancer. It is important to know that the best way to prevent lung cancer is to quit smoking.