A step forward in preventative screening for lung cancer.

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) issued its 2020 draft recommendation on annual lung cancer screening using low-dose computed tomography (LDCT) today. This draft recommendation will replace the 2014 recommendation that established LDCT lung cancer screening as a recommended preventive service for adults aged 55-80 with a 30 pack year smoking history and who currently smoke or quit within the last 15 years. The good news is that the new draft recommendation, which retained the high level B rating, revises both the age of eligibility and pack year history.

The draft recommendation lowers the age criteria to 50 years old and reduces the smoking history requirement to 20 pack years, thereby extending this lifesaving benefit to include more adults at high risk for lung cancer. Clearly, this is a step in the right direction.

But, more needs to be done.

Unfortunately, this recommendation still falls short for our community as it fails to expand the risk criteria to include family history of lung cancer and occupational exposures. It also retains the arbitrary 15 year cutoff since quitting smoking. This determination leaves far too many behind while early detection advances.

We will expand upon these concerns in additional public comments from the GO2 for Lung Cancer that will be submitted for the record by August 3, 2020. We will also further strengthen and expand our network of Centers of Excellence in more hospitals and medical centers across the country to ensure people have access to the highest quality lung cancer screening and multidisciplinary care in communities where they live. Our advocacy efforts will continue. We will not stop until we have removed all access barriers to this life-saving benefit for those who are at risk for lung cancer.

GO2 for Lung Cancer will do whatever it takes, whatever the need, to break down barriers to save lives.

Laurie Fenton Ambrose
Co-Founder, President and CEO