Cancer Screening
Lung cancer is the second leading cause of death and the leading cause of death from in Thailand. Most lung cancers are diagnosed in late stage of the disease making treatment more complicated resulting significant overall lung cancer survival rate reduction. In the past, lung cancer screening was done by chest x-ray and sputum cytology. However, these screening methods did not improve early detection of lung cancer patients, as small nodules (subsolid nodule/ground glass nodule) couldn’t be detected.
In 2011, National Lung Screening Trial (NLST) in USA shows that using low dose CT-chest is an effective screening method in people who have high risk for lung cancer comparing with chest x-ray. By having once a year screening, the mortality is reduced by 20%. Therefore, currently National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN), American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) and American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP) recommend lung cancer screening in high risk population by using low dose CT-chest.
The high risk group is defined as:
- Age 55-74 years
- Current or former smokers
You may consider lung cancer screening if you have a history of smoking for 30 pack years or longer. Pack years are calculated by multiplying the number of packs of cigarettes smoked a day and the number of years that you smoked.- Smoked two packs a day for 15 years
- Smoked one pack a day for 30 years
- Smoked one and a half pack a day for 20 years
- Stop smoking less than 15 years
There are other risk factors as below:
- Age
- Sex
- Ethnicity
- Weight and height
- Education
- Family history of lung cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and other cancers
