In Rockland County, where about one in eight adults is a smoker, lung cancer is the most common cancer. It is the leading cause of cancer death in New York State. The good news: If lung cancer is found early, when it’s small and before it has spread, the risk of death is reduced by 20%. So having lung cancer screening available in the area is critically important.

Patients have access to advanced lung cancer screening and treatment at Highland Medical, Pulmonary Associates, which is affiliated with and located within Montefiore Nyack Hospital. The practice offers a full range of services, from helping patients quit smoking to detecting lung cancer early and treating it when found. The latest diagnostic tools and lung cancer treatments are available from a team of providers that includes pulmonologists, interventional radiologists, oncologists, cardiothoracic surgeons and pathologists.

How Is Screening Done?

The only recommended screening test for lung cancer is low dose computed tomography (LDCT). During an LDCT scan, patients lie on a table while a CT machine makes digital images of their lungs. The scan takes less than 10 minutes and isn’t painful. The dose of radiation is minimal—90% less than a regular CT scan.

Who Should Be Screened?

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommends yearly lung cancer screening with LDCT for people who:

• Have a 20 pack-year or more smoking history, and
• Smoke now or have quit within the past 15 years, and
• Are between 50 and 80 years old.

A pack-year is smoking an average of one pack of cigarettes per day for one year. For example, a person could have a 20 pack-year history by smoking one pack a day for 20 years or two packs a day for 10 years.

LEARN MORE

• For more information, call 845-348-8630