The American College of Radiology (ACR) is lauding the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) for updates it is proposing for its lung cancer screening guidelines.
Proposed on July 7, the new guidelines would lower the starting age for screening for lung cancer with low-dose CT from 55 to 50 and the smoking history from 30 pack years to 20 pack years. The ACR is also recommending that the USPSTF extend the quit-smoking requirement from 15 years to 20 years.
"Lung cancer kills more people each year than breast, colon, and prostate cancers combined," said Dr. Debra Dyer, chair of the ACR's Lung Cancer Screening 2.0 Committee. "Particularly with the new more-sensible pack-year threshold, if implemented nationwide, this cost-effective test would save more lives than any cancer-screening test in history."
The USPSTF is taking comment on its proposed guideline update through August 3.
