Enhanced Risk-Based Lung Cancer Screening May Prevent More Deaths than Current Approaches

Researchers from the National Cancer Institute, the U.S. government’s principal agency for cancer research, have developed a risk model-based approach for selecting smokers and former smokers who may be candidates for lung cancer screening with low-dose computed tomography (CT).  

Using data from two lung cancer screening studies and a U.S. health survey, the researchers estimated that the new approach might prevent more deaths from lung cancer over 5 years than would current screening recommendations. 

The researchers developed and validated statistical models that identify smokers and former smokers who, based on an analysis of multiple risk factors for lung cancer, are at the highest risk of dying from the disease.  The models take into account detailed information about all known risk factors, including age, smoking history, race, sex, body mass index, education, family history of lung cancer, and whether the person has emphysema. 

“Our findings suggest that individualized risk assessments could not only help us avoid more lung cancer deaths but may also improve the effectiveness and efficiency of screening over current approaches,” said the study’s first author, Hormuzd Katki, Ph.D., of NCI’s Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics. 

Community Medical Center, a member of RWJBarnabas Health, offers low-dose CT screening for individuals who are high-risk for developing lung cancer to identify abnormalities earlier.  The scan only takes a few minutes and can save your life.  For more information, or to schedule an appointment, please click here.   

If you, or a loved one, have recently been diagnosed with lung cancer, contact New Jersey CyberKnife today.  At New Jersey CyberKnife, eligible patients diagnosed with lung cancer, or inoperable lung tumors, are treated with stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) using the CyberKnife® Robotic Radiosurgery System.  CyberKnife is a painless, nonsurgical outpatient cancer treatment with minimal to no side effects.  During the CyberKnife treatment, hundreds of highly concentrated and incredibly precise beams of radiation are targeted directly to tumors and lesions in the lung.  As the patient breathes during the CyberKnife treatment, the CyberKnife robotic arm moves with the rise and fall of his/her body – meaning that healthy tissue is protected from radiation and only the tumor is treated. 

To learn more about how New Jersey CyberKnife treats lung cancer, please click here.