You can survive lung cancer! The easiest way to do that — detect it early.
Compared to other types of cancer screenings, the test for detecting early lung cancer — a low-dose CT scan of the chest — is easy, quick and painless! (No prep required, no blood draw, and you even keep your clothes on!)
But only a small percentage of people eligible for the test are getting it done!
Who should have lung cancer screening?
Smokers and former smokers are most at risk for lung cancer. You should get screened for lung cancer if you have these three factors:
- Age 50 - 79
- Smoking history of 20 pack/years (such as a pack a day for 20 years or two packs a day for 10 years)
- Smoked within the last 15 years
In addition, anyone who has had cancer of the lung, esophagus, head or neck, should also get screened routinely.
To help increase the number of people with access to low-dose CT scans for lung cancer, Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center created Eddy, or Early Detection Driven to You, a mobile screening van that travels the state to bring lung cancer screening to neighborhoods where the test can be hard to find.
Eddy is state-of-the-art lung cancer screening technology on wheels, funded by New York State, to help more people gain access to a quick, pain-free test that can help save lives. Detecting lung cancer early means a greater number of treatment options are available to a patient.
More than 36% of people living in counties with the highest rate of lung cancer deaths have to drive at least an hour for this kind of test. With Eddy, Roswell Park hopes to make it easier for people across the state to have access to this important test. Compared to chest x-ray, finding lung cancer through low-dose CT scans can reduce the risk of dying from lung cancer by 20-25%.
Nobody deserves to have lung cancer
Lung cancer is responsible for more cancer-related deaths each year than breast, prostate and pancreatic cancer combined, but the early detection methods for lung cancer are not as well known, nor is it talked about as often as those other cancers. Some 80% of eligible women get annual mammograms to screen for breast cancer, and 50% of eligible people receive colorectal cancer screenings, by comparison.
Meet Eddy
Find out more about our mobile lung cancer screening program and even sign up to learn when Eddy is in your area.
“As more people get screened for lung cancer, we will see this cancer diagnosed at earlier stages, when there is a greater chance of being cured," says Mary Reid, MSPH, PhD, Chief of Cancer Screening, Survivorship and Mentorship at Roswell Park. Women and Black people are at a higher risk of lung cancer and higher risk of dying from lung cancer. We can change that by getting the word out about lung cancer screening and Eddy. Whether you smoke or smoked, you deserve to get screened and survive and thrive after lung cancer. That is what we all deserve.”
