American smokers are warned, their doctor will probably suggest they have a CT scan. Indeed, an independent group of medical experts has just published its new recommendations: an annual screening scanner for healthy adult smokers aged 55 to 80 and at high risk of lung cancer.
According to 2005 figures published by the health watch institute and of the National Cancer Institute, 30,651 new cases of lung cancer that were diagnosed (including 78% in humans) were the cause of 26,624 deaths in France. Lung cancers are the leading cause of cancer death. “Tobacco is the main risk factor, the duration of smoking seems to be more important than the amount of tobacco smoked”, specifies National Institute of Health (Inserm).
The best solution: stop smoking
Thanks to the recommendations of specialists, “about 20,000 deaths linked to lung cancer could be avoided”, estimates Dr. Michael LeFevre, member of the group of medical experts, interviewed by NBC News. “But screening is not an alternative to stopping smoking, which remains the best way to avoid lung cancer and death,” he recalls.
According to the doctors’ report, published in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine, about 10 million people meet the task force’s definition of “high risk of lung cancer”. They say adults aged 55 to 80 who smoke or who have quit in the past 15 years are at risk. A person who has smoked one pack a day for 30 years or two packs a day for 15 years would be on the same scale.
The working group also recommends that any screening take place in an establishment that offers a patient monitoring program, smoking cessation and appropriate treatment in the event of proven cancer. Good to know, Inserm recalls the signals that should alert smokers and prompt them to consult their doctor: persistent cough, change in voice, hoarseness, coughing up blood, shortness of breath, deterioration in general condition, lymph node base of the neck or at the level of the collarbones, difficulty swallowing, loss of appetite, weight loss, chest pain …
