{"id":135895,"date":"2024-10-08T22:33:26","date_gmt":"2024-10-09T02:33:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/?p=135895"},"modified":"2024-10-08T22:33:26","modified_gmt":"2024-10-09T02:33:26","slug":"too-many-lung-cancers-too-few-screenings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/?p=135895","title":{"rendered":"Too Many Lung Cancers, Too Few Screenings"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Capital Blue Cross \u2013 \u00a0<\/strong>THINK<\/em><\/strong><\/a>\u00a0(Trusted Health Information, News, and Knowledge) is a community publication of Capital Blue Cross. Our mission is to provide education, resources, and news on the latest health and insurance issues.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Proper preventive screenings could potentially save many of the 125,000 lives lost lung cancer each year. Employers can help through educational campaigns and by offering reliable healthcare plans that help high-risk employees.<\/p>\n

Lung cancer is by far the leading cancer killer in the United States, according to the\u00a0American Cancer Society<\/a>\u00a0(ACS). It causes roughly 1 in 5 U.S. cancer deaths, claiming more lives in this country than colon, breast, and prostate cancers combined.<\/p>\n

Yet screening rates for this deadly disease are alarmingly low.<\/p>\n

A recent\u00a0American Lung Association (ALA) report<\/a>\u00a0revealed that only a sliver \u2013 5.8% \u2013 of eligible Americans have been screened for lung cancer. In some states, the rate is as low as 1%.<\/p>\n

While Pennsylvania\u2019s rate exceeds the national average, it still languishes at 7.4%. To put that in human terms, more than 92 out of every 100 Pennsylvanians at high risk for lung cancer fails to get screened.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome of that is because many patients don\u2019t know the recommendations or suggested screening guidelines,\u201d said Dr. Jeremy Wigginton, Capital Blue Cross Chief Medical Officer. \u201cSo they often miss this very critical test \u2013 a test that could lead to earlier, more effective treatment of lung cancer.\u201d<\/p>\n

Who Should be Screened for Lung Cancer?<\/p>\n

More than 230,000 new cases<\/a>\u00a0of lung cancer are diagnosed each year. But with proper and timely screenings, many of the roughly 125,000 lives lost annually to the disease could be saved \u2013 a key point of emphasis for October\u2019s Healthy Lung Month.<\/p>\n

The ALA reports that despite the low screening rate, lung cancer survival rates have improved; the five-year rate increased 22% from 2015 to 2019, reaching a new high of 26.6%.<\/p>\n

\u201cIncreased lung cancer survival is attributable to advancements in research, better treatments and other factors,\u201d said\u00a0Harold Wimmer<\/a>, ALA National President and CEO. \u201cHowever, lung cancer screening is the most immediate opportunity we have to save lives.\u201d<\/p>\n

The ALA says 14.2 million Americans meet the\u00a0U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) screening guidelines<\/a>: They are between 50-80 years old; have a 20 pack-year history (1 pack a day for 20 years or 2 packs a day for 10 years); and they are either current smokers or have quit within the last 15 years.<\/p>\n

How to Choose a Health Plan That Helps Employees<\/p>\n

Employers can help by offering workplace awareness campaigns that educate employees about lung cancer risk factors and screening guidelines, and by encouraging screenings for eligible staff.<\/p>\n

They can also fuel the fight against lung cancer by choosing reliable healthcare plans that cover both screenings for high-risk employees and treatments for those diagnosed with the disease. Employers can also offer smoking-cessation programs and coverage. Capital Blue Cross, for instance, offers\u00a0free preventive services<\/a>\u00a0to help people kick tobacco products for good, from 180-day prescription services to smoking cessation counseling.<\/p>\n

Also, many Capital Blue Cross employer and individual plans cover USPSTF-recommended lung cancer screenings for those at high risk, as well as many of the treatments for those diagnosed with the disease.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile avoiding smoking can significantly lower the risk of lung cancer, it\u2019s hard to overemphasize screening\u2019s role in reducing severe complications \u2013 or even deaths \u2013 from the disease,\u201d Capital\u2019s Dr. Wigginton said. \u201cSo if you are at risk, talk to your regular healthcare provider regarding recommendations for screening.\u201d<\/p>\n

Find out more from\u00a0Capital Blue Cross<\/a>\u00a0about screening recommendations, and\u00a0check here<\/a>\u00a0to find out if you, a friend, or a loved one should be screened.<\/p>\n

You can find more useful articles at\u00a0<\/strong>https:\/\/thinkcapitalbluecross.com\/<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Information provided to TVL by:
\nJERRY REIMENSCHNEIDER
\nSenior Public Relations Specialist | Brand & Market Strategy
\nhttps:\/\/www.capbluecross.com\/<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Capital Blue Cross \u2013 \u00a0THINK\u00a0(Trusted Health Information, News, and Knowledge) is a community publication of Capital Blue Cross. Our mission is to provide education, resources, and news on the … Continue reading Too Many Lung Cancers, Too Few Screenings<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":112469,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[69],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-135895","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-in-the-valley"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/think.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135895"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=135895"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135895\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/112469"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=135895"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=135895"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=135895"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}