Screening for lung cancer, the deadliest in U.S., misses most cases, new study reveals

Because of missed diagnoses, cancer and public health officials are calling for changes in lung cancer screening guidelines.

That conclusion, according to a recent story by Allyson Chiu in The Washington Post, was from a new study published in “JAMA Network Open,” a peer-reviewed journal.

Dr. Ankit Bharat

A majority of the lung cancer patients in this country would not meet the screening criteria as it  exists currently, the Post quoted Dr. Ankit Bharat, the study’s lead author and executive director of the Canning Thoracic Institute at Northwestern Medicine, as saying.

“If we have a more broader screening program, similar to breast and colon, then we would be able to detect substantially more patients at an earlier stage," he added.

 

The story indicates that if screening were made available for anyone between 40 and 80, nearly 94% of lung cancer cases could be detected, preventing at least roughly 26,000 deaths each year — "if even 30% of people get screened.”

 

The study had shown that of approximately 1,000 patients treated at Northwestern Medicine, only 1/3 met the requirements for screening. Eligible were people 50 to 80 who had a history of heavy smoking in the past 15 years, but women, minorities, and people who never smoked “were disproportionately excluded.”

 

Bharat noted that “lung cancer is the biggest cause of cancer deaths in this country. It kills more people than breast, colon, and prostate put together.”

 

The Post piece also quoted Dr. Narjust Florez, a thoracic medical oncologist and co-director of the Young Lung Cancer Program at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, to the effect that “waiting for symptoms leads to most patients having a Stage 4 diagnosis.”

More information on studies can be found in Rollercoaster: How a man can survive his partner's breast cancer, aVitalityPress book that I, Woody Weingarten aimed at male caregivers. My other books are MysteryDates — How to keep the sizzle in your relationship; The Roving I, a compilation of 70 of my newspaper columns; and Grampy and His Fairyzona Playmates, a whimsical fantasy intended for 6- to 10-year-olds that I co-authored with my then 8-year-old granddaughter. Check out my website at https://woodyweingarten.com for details.

American Cancer Society opens up new guidelines for cervical cancer screening

The American Cancer Society (ACS) has changed its guidelines for cervical cancer, saying self-collected vaginal swab tests are now acceptable.

 

But according to a recent story by Allyson Chiu in The Washington Post, clinician-collected cervical samples “are still preferred.”

 

The tests are aimed at human papillomavirus (HPV), a sexually transmitted infection that “causes nearly all cervical cancers,” the article maintains

 

Jane Montealegre

Self-collection could be "a game-changer for increasing screening, Chiu quotes Jane Montealegre, associate prof in the  department of behavioral sciences at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, as saying.

Roughly 13,000 new cases of the disease are diagnosed in the United Staters annually, and about 4,000 women die, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

 

Chiu writes that data shows that screening rates have declined in the past 20 years — although cancer incidence had been cut by more than half since the mid-1970s.

 

Montealegre — who also claims that most insurance should cover HPV testing, including self-collected — says a self-collected test could be a good option for women who aren’t comfortable getting as pelvic exam or don’t have access to one. 

 

But, she adds, if you’re interested in self-collection, you should ask your physician to make the option available, and you should make sure the test you use has received Federal Drug Administration (FDA) approval.

 

“If they’re not FDA-approved, I wouldn't trust that as a valid screening test,” the Post quoted her again.

More information on new medical guidelines can be found in Rollercoaster: How a man can survive his partner's breast cancer, a VitalityPress book that I, Woody Weingarten aimed at male caregivers. My other books are MysteryDates — How to keep the sizzle in your relationship; The Roving I, a compilation of 70 of my newspaper columns; and Grampy and His Fairyzona Playmates, a whimsical fantasy intended for 6- to 10-year-olds that I co-authored with my then 8-year-old granddaughter. Check out my website at https://woodyweingarten.com for details.