Lung Cancer Screening is Still Woefully Low in the US, Report Shows

A recent report published by the American Lung Association shows that only a tiny fraction of Americans that are eligible for lung cancer screening undergo the needed screening. This is despite the fact that lung cancer accounts for 20% of all deaths in America attributed to cancer. 

Deaths due to lung cancer exceed the combined fatalities due to prostate, breast and colon cancer. These statistics would warrant greater rates of lung cancer screening, but on average, just a paltry 5.8% of individuals in America that should get screened actually undergo screening for this cancer, according to the ALA report. In some states, the rate of screening even drops to as low as 1% for individuals categorized as eligible for such screening. 

Doctor Jeremy Wigginton, the Chief Medical Officer at Capital Blue Cross, explains that the low rates of screening are partly caused by many individuals not knowing the guidelines regarding who should get screened for lung cancer. As a result, many people go undiagnosed and this causes the loss of a great opportunity to catch the disease early and get started on treatments that could have been effective in stopping the cancer before it spreads. 

This raises a serious question; who needs to undergo lung cancer screening? According to federal screening guidelines, anyone who is aged between 50 to 80 years and has a history of smoking one pack of cigarettes each day for 20 years, or smoked one pack of cigarettes each day for a decade needs to undergo screening for lung cancer. People who smoke and are within this age bracket also need to get screened, just as those who gave up smoking not more than 15 years ago. 

According to the American Lung Association, 14.2 million individuals in America meet the criteria for inclusion among those who need lung cancer screening. Approximately 5.8% of these individuals get screened. 

Available data shows that while screening is still very low, it is worth noting that survival rates for lung cancer have registered an uptick and those who exceed 5 years after receiving treatment now stand at 26.6%. This improvement has come in the years 2015 to 2019. Advances in research and novel treatments have been critical in achieving these results, and companies like Calidi Biotherapeutics Inc. (NYSE American: CLDI) are focused on building on these gains by undertaking R&D programs aimed at bringing to market new therapies with even greater efficacy. 

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