Low Dose CT for Lung Cancer Screening

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:

A person 55 to 80 years of age and
Have a smoking history of “30 pack years” or more (i.e. smoking 1 pack of cigarettes per day for 30 years or 2 packs per day for 15 years) and
Are either a current smoker or who have quit within the past 15 years

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.