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Lung Cancer is the No. 1 Killer of Both Men and Women; UHC Using Low-Dose CT to Save Lives

By Connect-Bridgeport Staff on November 22, 2019 via Connect-Bridgeport.com

November is National Lung Cancer Awareness month and United Hospital Center wants to help create awareness concerning this disease that kills almost twice as many women as breast cancer and three times as many men as prostate cancer each year.
 
“Every 3.3 minutes someone dies in the U.S. of lung cancer,” said Linda Carte, RN, MSN, AOCN, vice president of oncology and post-acute care at United Hospital Center. “In fact, lung cancer kills 433 Americans daily, which just happens to be the same number of seats on a 747 jet.”
 
It is not always easy to explain why one person develops lung cancer and another does not. There are certain risk factors that research has shown increase a person’s chance of developing lung cancer, these include:
  • Tobacco smoke
  • Radon
  • Asbestos and other carcinogens
  • Air pollution
  • Family or personal history of lung cancer
  • Radiation therapy
  • Age 65 and older
  • History of lung disease
  • Diet
 
Quitting smoking is the single best thing an individual can do to reduce their risk of lung cancer. In fact, after 10 years smoke free, your risk of developing lung cancer is cut in half.
 
Researchers are continuing to learn more about lung cancer risk factors and how to reduce these. Lung cancer may not produce any symptoms, especially in the early stages of the disease. It will most likely be first detected on X-rays, CT scans, or other kinds of tests being done to check on another condition.
 
A tumor can block off an airway and interfere with breathing. When an airway is blocked, mucus gets trapped in the lung and may become infected, resulting in pneumonia. Lung cancer can also cause fluid to build up, causing shortness of breath.
Coughing symptoms:
  • A persistent cough that gets worse or does not go away
  • Coughing up blood
Chest symptoms:
  • Shortness of breath
  • Wheezing
  • Ache or pain in your chest, upper back, or shoulder that doesn’t go away and may get worse with deep breathing
  • A hoarse voice
  • Frequent respiratory tract infections, such as pneumonia or bronchitis
General physical symptoms:
  • Feeling unusually tired all the time
  • Weight loss with no known cause and loss of appetite
  • Trouble swallowing
  • Swelling in the face and/or veins in the neck
If lung cancer spreads, it may cause other symptoms, such as pain in the back or other bones or weakness in the arms or legs. If it spreads to the brain, it may cause headaches, seizures, dizziness, memory problems, or speech difficulties.
 
Small cell lung cancer patients may also present with unique symptoms due to small cell lung cancer tumors that secrete hormones. This can lead to low blood sodium levels because the body retains fluid.
 
“Finding lung cancer early, when it is easiest to treat, can save lives,” said Carte. “Advances in research are also important to improving the survival rate for lung cancer patients.”
 
Currently, only 16 percent of lung cancers are diagnosed while the tumor is still is in its earliest stages of growth. A major challenge is that most people with lung cancer only have symptoms when they are in later stages of disease. Often times lung cancer that is discovered early is done so during treatment for an unrelated medical issue.
 
The good newsis that in the last 5 to 10 years, there have been major discoveries in early detection of lung cancer and lung cancer treatment. A lung cancer screening is checking for lung cancer before there are any symptoms. There is not a comparable, reliable, and broadly available screening test for lung cancer that can catch the disease early.
 
Chest X-rays are not recommended for screening as it often misses early-stage lung cancers, which have not resulted in decreased mortality. Likewise for sputum cytology, a test that checks for abnormal cells in sputum. There is ongoing research toward developing a reliable and broadly available lung cancer screening test.
 
“What is available now and has proven to be effective for lung cancer screening among high-risk individuals, is a low-dose CT scan (LDCT), which is much more sensitive than chest X-rays and is what UHC uses,” said Tom Barr, director of Diagnostic and Cardiovascular Services at UHC. “LDCT is recommended for early-detection screening, but only in high-risk individuals.”
 
The LDCT is a computerized X-ray imaging procedure that yields detailed scans of the internal organs.  It produces multiple images from different angles, which provides both two-dimensional and three-dimensional images of anything abnormal in the chest.  The non-invasive procedure takes only 10 minutes, as the patient lies still on a table and a scanner moves around the patient. This procedure should be performed annually.
 
An estimated 9 million Americans are considered at high risk for lung cancer. If half of those at high risk were screened, more than 15,000 lives could be saved annually. Despite this lifesaving opportunity, fewer than five percent of high-risk Americans have been screened for lung cancer.
 
“Lung cancer screenings can help to assist in finding cancer at the earliest stages of the disease,” said Carte. “Since the inception of UHC’s lung cancer screening program, more than 500 screenings have been conducted and many lives have been saved through the diagnosis of positive findings.”
 
Screenings are covered by most insurance plans and Medicare for the following:
  • Individuals aged 55-80 years,
  • Current or former smokers, and
  • Smoking history of 1 pack/day for 30 years or 2 packs/day for 15 years.
A pack year is the equivalent of one pack (20 cigarettes) smoked daily for one year. To have a 30-pack-year smoking history, a person could have smoked one pack daily for 30 years or two packs daily for 15 years.
 
“UHC CT scanners are accredited for brain, chest, and body modules, which is required for Medicare to pay for the screening,” said Barr. “Medicare and private insurances are giving authorizations by approving many of these scans and that has resulted in UHC more than doubling the number these scans completed on a daily basis.”
 
“However, if you do not have Medicare, UHC still offers a low-dose CT scan for $99.99,” said Barr.  “Beginning January 1, 2020, the hospital will add an additional CT scanner to accommodate the increased capacity; therefore, helping to ensure that more patients can be screened.”
 
“Through voluntary participation, UHC compares its lung cancer screening performance to other facilities nationwide,” said Carte.  “These objective comparisons are used to advance our lung cancer screening practice, target specific areas for improvement, implement quality improvement programs, and improve patient care.”
 
“A low-dose CT scan can provide detailed information about the size, shape, or location of an abnormality,” said Carte. “However, a scan cannot diagnose whether or not an abnormality is cancer. These scans have helped to decrease mortality from lung cancer, decrease mortality from treatment, and improve the quality of life throughout North Central West Virginia.”



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