More evidence CT scans for lung cancer work: EPH offers this important test
Fewer than one in five people who could benefit from a lung cancer screening are getting the test. That’s according to a newly released study led by American Cancer Society researchers.
If you think you may qualify for this important cancer screening, talk to your primary care physician. Estes Park Health’s Diagnostic Imaging Department is happy to schedule the test for you. (Photo by Wendy Rigby/Estes Park Health)
Estes Park Health now offers low dose CT lung scans for patients who qualify. This quick and painless test can provide a wealth of information and save lives.
“Results just keep coming in,” said Estes Park Health Radiologist Dr. John Knudtson. “A new study involving 58,000 veterans showed a significant reduction in mortality from lung cancer when this test is used to catch the disease early. There is more and more confirmation that low dose lung screening is having a huge impact on a major killer.”
Lung cancer kills more people in the world than any other cancer.
Researchers involved in the Veterans Health Administration study published in the June 10 journal Cancer determined patients who were screened with low dose CT had much higher rates of early-stage cancer diagnoses than the people who were not screened. The difference was significant: 52% to 27%.
Current recommendations outline a yearly low-dose CT scan for people between the ages of 50 and 77, shows no symptoms of lung cancer, has a tobacco smoking history of at least 20 pack years, is a current smoker or someone who has quit in the last 15 years, and has received an order for the test.
If you think you may qualify for this important cancer screening, talk to your primary care physician. Estes Park Health’s Diagnostic Imaging Department is happy to schedule the test for you.
For important cancer screening close to home, think Estes Park Health. Mountaintop Medicine, Quality Care.