Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in the US. Historically, lung cancer has been undetectable until it reached a late incurable state. The U.S. Preventive Task Force found the low dose CT scans more accurately identify early stage lung cancer than any other screening tests. They found that many lung cancer deaths deaths can be prevented by screening high-risk people every year. A high-risk person can be defined as:
For this exam you will be asked to lie on your back and hold your breath just for a few seconds while the CAT scan machine takes pictures of your chest. There is no preparation and no injection of dye.