Know Your Lung Cancer Risks This Know-vember

What better time than November to learn about lung cancer risks and the life-saving impact early screening has. Every year 200,000 Americans are diagnosed, and 160,000 die of lung cancer; this makes lung cancer the most common cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. These numbers are startling, and it’s up to you to take the next step and be proactive before it’s too late.

Lung Cancer Risk Factors

Smoking is the most common cause of lung cancer, while stopping smoking is the biggest opportunity to prevent lung cancer. When smoking is combined with other factors, the risk of the disease increases. Other risk factors include:

• Exposure to secondhand smoke
• Family history of lung cancer
• Treatment with radiation therapy to the breast or chest
• Exposure to asbestos, chromium, nickel, arsenic, soot or tar
• Exposure to radon

Early Detection Can Save Your Life

Detecting lung cancer through a CT lung cancer screening test before symptoms begin can prevent death. Getting a CT lung cancer screening examination is easy:

• Comfortable: The CT lung screening exam is pain-free.
• Quick: The entire exam takes 10 minutes.
• Safe: There are no injections or pills; there is low radiation and minimal risk.
• Affordable: Most insurance plans cover CT lung screening if you qualify.
• Accredited: UMass Memorial is a designated Lung Cancer Screening Center by the American College of Radiology

Do you qualify for a lung cancer screening? To qualify, you must:

• Be 50 to 80 years old
• Currently smoke cigarettes or have quit smoking in the past 15 years
• Have smoked at least an average of one pack of cigarettes a day for 20 years (referred to as 20 pack-years); Use this calculator to determine your risk based on your smoking history.
• Have no current symptoms of lung cancer, such as coughing up blood or sudden, unexplained weight loss

Before making an appointment for a screening, you should meet with your provider to discuss the benefits, limitations and risks of screening. Learn more and self-qualify at www.ummhealth.org/lung.

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Quit Smoking