RHODE ISLAND MEDICAL IMAGING
CT Scan


Lung Cancer Screening

A recent study, called the National Lung Screening Trial (NLST), sponsored by the National Cancer Institute, compared the use of CT scans with chest x-ray to screen for lung cancer in patients aged 55-74 and who smoked one pack of cigarettes a day for 30 years. The patients screened with CT scans were found to have 20% fewer deaths from lung cancer than patients screened with x-ray.

Based on the results of the NLST, Rhode Island Medical Imaging (RIMI) has created the first comprehensive out-patient lung cancer screening program for eligible patients in Rhode Island.

RIMI’s program is based upon the initial findings from the trial published in the New England Journal of Medicine last fall. Lung cancer screenings are recommended for current or former smokers at least 55 years of age, who have smoked one pack a day for at least 30 years or 2 packs a day for 15 years.

Currently lung cancer screening is not a benefit generally covered by insurance and as such, is a cost that the patient must bear directly. However, as more clinical trials support the evidence of reducing death rates and treatment costs, it is believed that insurance companies will eventually cover lung cancer screenings in the same way they cover mammograms and colonoscopies..

If you are a current or former long-term smoker over the age of 50, ask your doctor about whether you should receive a lung cancer screening at any of RIMI’s five locations for early detection of lung cancer. Eligible patients require a doctor’s referral.

For more information about the lung cancer screening program, call

Rhode Island Medical Imaging at 401 432 2400.

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