American Cancer Society updates lung cancer screening guidelines

Editor's Note

The American Cancer Society (ACS) has updated its lung cancer screening recommendations from 2013 in an effort to reduce deaths based on smoking history, CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians November 1 reports.

According to the updated guidelines, lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in the US and the second most frequently diagnosed malignancy in both men and women.  ACS researchers estimate that in 2023, 238,340 new cases of lung cancer will be diagnosed and about 127,070 people will die from the disease. 

The new guideline recommends that people aged 50 to 80 years old who smoke or formerly smoked and have a 20-year or greater-pack-year history are screened each year. People who fit the criteria should be screened annually via a low-dose computed tomography scan (low-dose CT scan, or LDCT). The guideline, last updated in 2013, is published in the ACS flagship journal.

The authors say they hope the new guidelines will help provide earlier diagnosis of lung cancer cases and save more lives.