By: Debbie Oates, NP, nurse navigator, Lung Nodule Center, MemorialCare Todd Cancer Institute, Long Beach Memorial

The scenario: You have a long history of smoking. Your doctor recommends a lung cancer screening. Your scan is clear, so you continue to smoke.

This result is all too common among people screened for lung cancer. However, your risk for lung cancer grows the longer you continue to smoke. While research has shown that screenings help to prevent lung cancer deaths, screenings are not a substitute for quitting smoking.

It has been estimated that active smoking is responsible for close to 90 percent of lung cancer cases. However, within 10 years of quitting smoking, your risk of dying from lung cancer is cut in half.

Preventing lung cancer is better than finding it early and smoking is the most important risk factor for lung cancer that can be changed.

Because lung cancer normally has no symptoms until late in the disease, it is often not found early. If you have a history of smoking, you may be eligible for a lung cancer screening.

Should you be screened for lung cancer?

Screening for lung cancer is quick and easy, and results in a minimal amount of radiation exposure. Using a low-dose CT-scan, physicians can view detailed pictures of the chest to help find abnormalities in the lungs that a normal x-ray can’t.

For high-risk patients, the low-dose CT scan is designed to look for signs of lung cancer even before symptoms are present. A CT scan is the only effective, proven way to screen for lung cancer.

Benefits related to a lung cancer screening have been proven for healthy adults ages 55-80 years, who are current smokers with the equivalent of at least one package of cigarettes a day for 30 years, or who are former smokers with the equivalent of at least one package of cigarettes a day for 30 years and who have quit within the past 15 years.

For individuals who do not fit these criteria, but have other risk factors for developing lung cancer, it’s important to find an accredited, integrated screening program to help guide your decision.

This assures that decisions are made in a thoughtful, informed way that maximizes the benefits and minimizes the potential negative effects of a screening.

The most important thing you can do regardless of your screening decision is to stop smoking. Avoiding cigarettes is the best way to lower your chance of dying or suffering from lung cancer, emphysema, heart attacks and more.

The MemorialCare Todd Cancer Institute at Long Beach Memorial offers a comprehensive Lung Cancer Screening Program to detect lung cancer early, at the most curable stage. For more information about the Lung Cancer Screening Program, call 800-MEMORIAL or visit MemorialCare.org/LungScreening.