CHEST 2017: American College of Chest Physicians Releases Updated Lung Cancer Screening Guideline
Posted: Thursday, November 2, 2017
The American College of Chest Physicians unveiled its new lung cancer screening guidelines at the CHEST 2017 Annual Meeting in Toronto. This revised lung cancer screening guideline incorporates many recommendations and shifts from previous guidelines, particularly focusing on the implementation of low-dose CT (LDCT) screening as well as who to screen and how to manage abnormal findings. The recommendations update the evidence base for the use of LDCT screening from more than 50 studies.
“Our recommendations for screening have evolved to be even more selective and specifically target those highest risk populations,” declared Gerard Silvestri, MD, FCCP, guideline panelist and Immediate Past President of CHEST, in an American College of Chest Physicians press release. “The evidence currently does not support widespread adoption of lung cancer screening outside of those patients described in our recommendations.”
The new guidelines recommend annual screening with LDCT be offered for asymptomatic smokers and former smokers between the ages of 55 and 77 who have smoked 30 pack-years or more and either continue to smoke or have quit within the past 15 years. As for those who do not meet these smoking and age criteria, LDCT is not recommended.
