The Lung Cancer Alliance (LCA) has recommended to the World Trade Center Health Program that lung cancer screening be offered to the victims and first responders of the September 11 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in New York City.
The Washington, DC, organization made the recommendation in a September 13 letter dated to program chairman Dr. James Melius and administrator Dr. John Howard.
Laurie Fenton-Ambrose, LCA's president and CEO, commended the U.S. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) for adding lung cancer to the list of World Trade Center-related health conditions that will be covered under the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act of 2010.
She pointed out that breast and colon cancer screenings were included in covered treatment, but that low-dose CT screening exams for lung cancer were not.
On September 10, NIOSH added about 50 types of cancer to the list of illnesses that will be covered by the $1.55 billion treatment program. Approximately 60,000 individuals have enrolled in the program to date.
