A statewide consortium in Nebraska said it will soon begin recruiting smokers and former smokers for a statewide lung screening study, with CT scans to be performed annually for five years. The program, which will be free of charge to participants, will begin scanning its first subjects in the fall. Financing efforts are still under way.
The Nebraska Early Detection and Informatic Technology study (NEED-IT) hopes to screen a significant portion of the state population with a smoking history of at least 30 pack years (one pack a day for 30 years or two packs a day for 15 years).
The consortium, led by the University of Nebraska Medical Center's Eppley Cancer Center and its hospital partner, the Nebraska Medical Center, both in Omaha, said the program will be based on the lung cancer screening program at Cornell University in New York City, site of the successful ELCAP trials. Regional West Medical Center in Scottsbluff, NE, will also be conducting the scans.
Dr. Ken Cowan, Ph.D., director of the UNMC Eppley Cancer Center, said he is working to secure grant or federal funding to expand the program to screening centers throughout the state.
By AuntMinnie.com staff writers
August 15, 2005
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