A recent study conducted at Northwestern Medicine found that only 35% of nearly 1,000 lung cancer patients would have qualified for screening under the current U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) criteria. The research revealed that two-thirds of those who would have been excluded were mostly women and individuals who never smoked.
The USPSTF currently recommends annual lung cancer screenings for adults aged 50-80 with a 20 pack-year smoking history and who either still smoke or quit within the past 15 years. This approach excludes many people at risk for lung cancer.
The new study, which will be published in JAMA Network Open on November 21, suggests expanding screening to all adults aged 40-85. Researchers estimate this change could detect up to 94% of lung cancers and potentially prevent over 26,000 additional deaths each year. They also found that broader screening would be cost-effective, as the benefits outweigh the minimal risks associated with radiation exposure or biopsies.
“We moved to universal age-based screening for breast and colon cancer with tremendous success, and we need to move to the same approach for lung cancer. Chest screening offers something unique — with one low-dose scan, we can assess lungs, heart and bones comprehensively. This baseline scan becomes invaluable for monitoring their health over time,” said Dr. Ankit Bharat, professor of thoracic surgery at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and executive director of the Northwestern Medicine Canning Thoracic Institute.
Lung cancer is currently the leading cause of cancer death in the United States, causing more fatalities than breast, colon, and prostate cancers combined. About one in five cancer deaths among both men and women are due to lung cancer. Most cases are diagnosed at an advanced stage because symptoms usually do not appear until late in the disease’s progression.
To address these issues, Northwestern Medicine has opened the Lung Health Center at the Canning Thoracic Institute. Supported by John and Rita Canning’s donation, this center aims to detect conditions such as lung disease, heart problems, and bone disorders earlier through low-dose CT scans. These scans will also be evaluated for their ability to identify early pulmonary fibrosis, post-COVID lung damage, cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis, and other widespread health concerns.
The scan used takes less than ten seconds and does not require intravenous dyes. It provides a comprehensive image of the chest cavity that serves as a long-term reference for patients’ health records.
“Nearly six years after the pandemic’s start, we’re seeing increasing numbers of patients with lung scarring and fibrosis from COVID-19, especially those who get reinfected with respiratory viruses,” Bharat said. “The damage compounds with each infection. Early detection through comprehensive screening can help us intervene before these conditions progress to requiring transplantation.”
Dr. Momen Wahidi from Feinberg noted: “This initiative transforms how we approach chest health comprehensively. Instead of waiting for symptoms to appear, we’re giving patients and physicians a complete picture of chest health that can guide preventive care across multiple specialties.”
The center encourages screenings for groups including COVID-19 survivors with ongoing respiratory issues; people exposed to wildfire smoke or pollution; those with family histories of lung disease; individuals exposed to secondhand smoke or vaping; Asian women; and anyone interested in assessing their baseline chest health.
“We’re seeing younger patients with respiratory problems from vaping, environmental exposures and COVID-19 who would never qualify for traditional screening,” said Dr. Scott Budinger from Feinberg and the Canning Thoracic Institute. “This lung screening approach allows us to catch interstitial lung disease, pulmonary fibrosis, lung cancer and other conditions years before they’d typically be diagnosed.”