Lung Cancer Screening A Must
January 14, 2026
Lung cancer remains the deadliest of all cancers, taking more lives than breast, prostate and colon cancers combined. The reason: Lung cancer symptoms often don't appear until the later stages when treatment options are more limited.
"Lung cancer tends to grow quietly and doesn't cause symptoms until a vital structure like a major airway or blood vessel is disturbed by the growth," said Don Dumont, MD, pulmonologist at Franciscan Physician Network in Munster, Indiana. "As a result, we often don't find the disease until it's at a late stage."
Until recently, there were no good screening tests for lung cancer, but lung screenings can now detect cancer at early stages. In fact, getting a tumor detected via an annual CT lung scan raises the odds of five-year survival from stage 1 to 4 lung cancer by 63 percent, according to the American Lung Association.
Learn more about why lung cancer screening matters and who benefits most from lung scans for detection of cancer.
Key Takeaways: Lung Cancer Screening
- Early detection of lung cancer is life-saving. Lung cancer is the deadliest cancer because it often "grows quietly" and doesn't cause symptoms until it reaches an advanced stage. When detected early (Stage 1A) through a screening, the lung cancer survival rate can be as high as 90 percent.
- Annual low-dose CT scans are recommended for adults aged 50 to 80 who have a "20 pack-year" smoking history (e.g., smoking one pack a day for 20 years). Even people who quit within the last 15 years are encouraged to continue yearly lung cancer screenings.
- A lung cancer screening is a simple low-dose CT scan that takes only about 10 seconds. There are no needles, no injections, and it uses minimal radiation—similar to a mammogram. Franciscan Health offers these scans for as little as $49 out of pocket.
- Consistency matters. Even if a previous scan was clear, annual screenings are vital. Some forms of lung cancer can develop and grow rapidly within a single year; staying on a yearly schedule ensures any new lung nodules are caught while they are still small and treatable via surgery rather than invasive chemotherapy.
Who Should Have A Lung Cancer Screening?
Under current American Cancer Society guidelines, yearly lung cancer screening with a low-dose CT scan is currently recommended for all people aged 50 to 80 who smoke or used to smoke, and who have at least a 20 pack-year history of smoking (meaning a pack of cigarettes smoked per day for 20 years) and who have no visible signs or symptoms of lung cancer.
If you quit smoking over 15 years ago or are over the age of 80, you must have one additional risk factor to qualify for the lung scan.Have 1 Additional Risk Factor
- History of lung disease
- Family history of lung cancer (parent or sibling)
- Personal history of cancer
- Radon exposure (mines, caves, tunnels, power plants or fertilizers)
- Occupational exposure (factories, mills, truck driver, refinery, railroad, mechanic)
Why Is 50 The Minimum Age For Lung Cancer Screening?
"Lung cancer generally starts after the age of 50, very rarely in, in a younger demographic," said Faisal Khan, MD, a Greenwood interventional pulmonologist, who chooses to practice at Franciscan Health Indianapolis. "When you look at the data of about lung cancer prevalence, and incidence, the folks who are younger, it's very low. So if you start screening younger demographics, the outcomes in terms of detecting a significant disease is very low."
What Is A Lung Cancer Screening Like?
A lung screening is simply a CT (computerized tomography) scan, or a series of X-ray views taken from multiple angles. It’s a quick and easy procedure that provides doctors with images of your lungs.
The patient lays down on a table that passes through a tube. It takes about 10 seconds, and there are no needles or injections. You receive the results within a few days.
Why Do You Need To Get A Lung Screening Every Year?
It's vitally important to get an annual lung screening. That's because you can still develop lung cancer at any point in time, even if past screenings have been negative.
"We've seen cases where the first couple of screenings were clear, but in later screenings a tumor was found," Dr. Dumont said. "Some forms of lung cancer can grow incredibly fast, even in a year's time."
If you or a loved one is at risk of developing the disease, schedule a lung cancer screening today.
Does Insurance Pay For Lung Cancer Screening?
"The only thing that is required there from a private insurer standpoint is that there should be a doctor order and some documentation that the screening pros and cons were discussed with the patient and that proper documentation of their smoking history," said Dr. Khan. "There's been more and more acceptability in the private insurance world about that, and they'll cover that."
Does Medicare Pay For Lung Cancer Screening?
"In regards to Medicare, where more of the patients are getting the screening covered, the criteria is a little bit different," Dr. Khan said. " There is an upper limit of age there. So Medicare criteria is anyone above the age of 50, and less than 77, more than 20 pack year history of smoking and then quit within last 15 years. If they are, ex-smokers, if they're active, then it still applies. So they have a hard cutoff of 77 years, as a top age."
What If There Is An Abnormal Finding In My Lung Scan?
"Should you have an abnormal (result), the chances are majority of the time, it'll be just something that may require a yearly follow up, and not something more interventional or invasive and then a smaller risk," Dr. Khan said. "There is a method of categorizing from a medical standpoint how we categorize that abnormality. So majority will fall in one what we call, Lung-RADS 1 and 2, which means just a follow up scan in a year just to keep an eye on that abnormality.
"Then there's a smaller subset which falls in the category 3 and 4. Category 4 is the more concerning, which then every hospital has a setup of how to expedite the workup of those individuals. And category 3 generally means a follow up in six months. But those are much lesser in terms of overall prevalence there when you go through a screening than the 1 and So 1 and 2s get just get a routine annual scan, and 3 and 4 need a, like a second eye on them."
What If Cancer Is Found?
“If an area looks suspicious on a lung screening, we can perform a biopsy by utilizing our new, in-house Auris MONARCH® bronchoscopy system that travels deep into the lung and can pinpoint even the smallest of lung nodules. If pathology indicates cancer, we begin treatment right away, improving outcomes with early stage treatment,” said Cory Hogue, MD, a radiation oncologist with Franciscan Physician Network, who practices at Franciscan Cancer Center Munster. “But this is why a lung cancer screening for patients that qualify is so vitally important. Early detection is imperative to saving lives.”
First launched at Franciscan Health Indianapolis Interventional Pulmonology Clinic, the Auris MONARCH bronchoscopy platform has had many successes with uncovering lung cancer earlier. Dr. Khan details the scope of this revolutionary technology and how it could help a patient get diagnosed sooner.
What Are The Advantages Of Early Lung Cancer Treatment?
"The best way to cure lung cancer is to surgically remove it," Dr. Dumont said. "You have that option if your lung cancer is in the earlier stages, particularly stage one. Having surgery to remove a lung cancer tumor successfully eliminates the disease in about 60 percent of patients."
Once lung cancer has spread outside the lung to other organs, surgery is no longer an option.
"A potential cancer has to grow to a certain size to give symptoms, but when it grows to that size, it's already, majority of the time in a late stage where you can maybe control the disease but not cure it," Dr. Khan said. "Even now, 70 percent of the cancers, approximately, present in late stage, what we call stage three and four, by the time they give symptoms. So it's imperative that we detect the cancer in the earlier stages, ideally stage one but even in stage two, the treatment is done with the intention to cure."
"I know there's anxiety of going through the scan and the what if, if, if something is found," he added. "But keep in mind that if, even if something is found and it's bad, the chances are it's found early stage and we can do something to cure it."
What’s The Best Way To Prevent Lung Cancer?
"The single best way to reduce the risk of lung cancer is to stop smoking," Dr. Dumont said. "If you quit today, in seven years you’ll be five times less likely to develop lung cancer than if you continued heavy smoking. It's never too late to quit smoking."
Learn more about our tobacco cessation programs and how Franciscan Health can help you quit.
