By Noa Mencher, RN

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer mortality in the United States, with 156,176 lung cancer deaths in 2013 – more than the total number of deaths from colon, breast or prostate cancer. More than 220,000 people were diagnosed with the disease that year, the most recent statistics available from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

One of the reasons lung cancer has had such a high mortality rate is that traditionally it has been a difficult form of cancer to detect in its early stages. But that is changing rapidly, thanks to esearch showing that low-dose CT scans can detect lung cancer in its early stages.

In response, low-dose CT scan screening programs are being adopted at hospitals and health care systems across the country. The cancer program where I work – The Hartford HealthCare Cancer Institute at The Hospital of Central Connecticut – was one of the first health care organizations in the state to provide free lung cancer screenings. That program, no longer available, made a difference. But you can still get a lung cancer screening that will be covered by most health insurance providers.

Across our institute – which includes cancer centers at HOCC, MidState Medical Center, Hartford Hospital, Backus Hospital and Windham Hospital – we have screened thousands of people. The many patients who have screened positive for lung cancer have credited the screening program for saving their lives. Nationwide, it’s expected that screening will save more than 20,000 lives a year.

The eligibility requirements for those who should be screened are as follows:

  • Be a current or former smoker (former smokers having quit within the last 15 years).
  • Be between the ages of 55 and 77 and healthy enough to undergo treatment, if needed.
  • Have a smoking history of at least 30 “pack-years” (one pack a day for 30 years, two packs a day for 15 years, etc.).
  • Doesn’t have symptoms of lung cancer such as new or exacerbated cough, new or exacerbated shortness of breath, blood in the sputum, etc.
  • Has not had a CT of the chest in the past 12 months.

If you meet these criteria, I encourage you to call me at 860.696.4814.

Noa Mencher, RN, is an oncology nurse navigator specializing in lung cancer at The Hartford HealthCare Cancer Institute at The Hospital of Central Connecticut.

You can reach Noa by calling 860.696.4814.