To assess a smoker’s lung cancer risk, think years- not packs – Cancer Research Institute

Cancer Research Institute posted on LinkedIn:

“To assess a smoker’s lung cancer risk, think years- not packs, Harvard University’s The Harvard Gazette emphasizes. A new study from Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital demonstrates that the lung cancer screening guidelines created by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force which require the equivalent of one pack a day for 20 years, ‘miss a large proportion of cases and fail to close a screening gap between Black and white patients. That gap means lung cancer among Black patients is too often caught later in the disease’s course, leading to higher mortality.’ Understand how researchers hope to simplify guidelines in order to expand the number of people who qualify for screening, and ‘both increase the proportion of cancer cases that are caught and virtually eliminate racial disparities in lung cancer screening eligibility.’

Discover here.”