LUNGevity Applauds US Preventive Services Task Force for Lung Cancer Screening Recommendation

WASHINGTON, July 31, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) today issued a draft recommendation in favor of CT screening for those at high risk of lung cancer.

For this context, risk is assessed based on age and smoking history: "Based on evidence from clinical trials and modeling studies, a reasonable balance of benefits and harms is obtained by screening healthy persons with a 30 pack-year or more history of smoking who are ages 55 to 79 years and have smoked within the past 15 years."  Approval of this recommendation will trigger Medicare and other insurance coverage, leading to increases in lung cancer survival.

"The value of early detection in decreasing lung cancer mortality has now been established. This is a vital step in saving lives from lung cancer for the thousands of people who fit the high-risk profile. However, tens of thousands of people will be diagnosed with lung cancer this year who do not fit into these parameters. LUNGevity remains committed to finding a non-invasive test that can be used in conjunction with low-dose computed tomography and other tools, so that lung cancer can ultimately be found earlier in the full population affected," said Andrea Ferris, President and Chairman of LUNGevity Foundation.

The USPSTF recommendation is open for public comment until August 26^th. View the recommendation at http://www.uspreventiveservicestaskforce.org/draftrec.htm.

About LUNGevity Foundation

LUNGevity Foundation is firmly committed to making an immediate impact on increasing quality of life and survivorship of people with lung cancer by accelerating research into early detection and more effective treatments, as well as by providing community, support and education for all those affected by the disease.  Our vision is a world where no one dies of lung cancer.

For more information about LUNGevity Foundation, please visit www.LUNGevity.org.

About Lung Cancer

• 1 in 14 Americans is diagnosed with lung cancer in their lifetime
• More than 226,000 people in the U.S. will be diagnosed with lung cancer this year
• About 60% of all new lung cancer diagnoses are among people who have never smoked or are former smokers
• Lung cancer kills more people than the next four cancers (colorectal, breast, pancreatic, and prostate) combined
• Only 16% of all people diagnosed with lung cancer will survive 5 years or more, BUT if it's caught before it spreads, the chance for 5-year survival improves dramatically

SOURCE LUNGevity Foundation