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Capital Region Medical Center
Find out if you should be screened
Capital Region Medical Center
offers
patients a better chance for survival
when it comes to lung cancer. Until
recently, early detection has been
difficult, but there is good news
about the disease: Doctors now have
a screening test that can catch lung
cancer early. It’s called low-dose spiral
computed tomography (LDCT), and you
can be screened right here at Capital
Region.
LDCT produces cross-sectional
images of the entire chest, including the
lungs, using special x-ray equipment
and sophisticated computers. These
images enable doctors to detect very
small nodules in the lung.
Are
you
at risk for lung cancer ?
If you think you are a candidate for
a lung cancer screening, speak with
your primary care provider. For a
list of providers currently accepting
new patients, visit
crmc.org/
acceptingnewpatients
.
Benefits of LDCT
The biggest benefit of LDCT is that it
can find lung cancer in its beginning
stages, which helps lower the risk of
dying from the disease.
Early diagnosis also means that
doctors can often use minimally
invasive surgery to remove the cancer
and preserve more lung tissue.
LDCT scanning is fast, painless and
noninvasive, and it uses much less
radiation than a traditional CT scan of
the chest.
Who should be screened?
Lung cancer screening isn’t for
everyone. The U.S. Preventive
Services Task Force (USPSTF)
recommends screening for certain
people at high risk for lung cancer.
You are at high risk if the guidelines
below apply.
1.
You are between 55 and 80 years
old.
2.
You have a pack-year smoking
history of 30 years or more.
3.
You smoke now, or you quit within
the last 15 years.
4.
You do not have symptoms of lung
cancer, and you have no history of
any cancer within the last five years.
(Pack years = packs smoked per
day × number of years smoked. For
example, 10 pack years = 1 pack
smoked per day for 10 years)