Lung Screening

Lung cancer causes more cancer-related deaths than colon, breast, and pancreatic cancers combined, but with lung cancer screening, you can catch the disease at an early stage while it’s still treatable. If you need lung cancer screening, you should turn to the experienced team at Invision Sally Jobe, with offices in Littleton, Aurora, Denver, Parker, Golden, Greenwood Village, and Sky Ridge Medical Center in Lone Tree, Colorado. Their team performs painless, noninvasive lung screening using low-dose CT scans. Call the Invision Sally Jobe Patient Access Team at 720-493-3700 to schedule a lung cancer screening today. 

What is lung cancer screening?

Lung cancer screening is done with low-dose computed tomography (LDCT), a noninvasive procedure that works just like a CT scan but uses a much lower radiation dose. 

Studies show that LDCT screenings significantly reduce deaths by finding lung cancer before it spreads. When lung cancer metastasizes, it most often grows in your brain, liver, bones, or adrenal glands.

When should I get a lung cancer screening?

Smoking causes 90% of lung cancers. Whether or not you need lung screening is based on your smoking history.

The current guidelines recommend lung cancer screening for long-time smokers over age 50. You should schedule screening if you smoked one pack daily for 20 years or longer and still smoke or quit in the last 15 years.

Even if you’re not a smoker, you may have a higher chance of developing lung cancer if you have any of the following risk factors:

• Family history of lung cancer
• Exposure to second-hand smoke
• Vaping
• Smoking marijuana
• Exposure to radiation
• Inhaling radon, asbestos, diesel exhaust, and other chemicals

Talk with your doctor if you have any concerns about lung cancer and wonder if you should schedule screening.

Will I have symptoms warning me to get a lung cancer screening?

The purpose of screening is to diagnose lung cancer before symptoms begin — a crucial step because symptoms don’t appear until after lung cancer spreads and reaches an advanced stage.

Once lung cancer symptoms appear, you may experience:

• Chronic cough
• Blood-producing cough
• Shortness of breath
• Unexplained weight loss
• Wheezing
• Chest pain
• Hoarseness
• Fatigue

These symptoms can also be signs of other lung diseases and health conditions.

What happens during lung cancer screening?

Low-density CT scans are the same as regular CT scans. You lie on a bed that moves through an opening in the CT machine.

The machine sends X-ray beams around your body as you go through the opening. You simply stay still and hold your breath for the 5-10 seconds it takes to complete each scan. During that short time, the scan takes numerous images revealing even the smallest sign of cancer.

Low Dose CT Scans (LDCT) use 90% less radiation than a conventional chest scan and still accurately detect cancer and other lung conditions like nodules (usually not cancerous).

Talk to your healthcare provider, and call Invision Sally Jobe at 720-493-3700 to schedule your lung cancer screening today.