Screening for lung cancer
Screening means checking for a disease in a group of people who don't show any symptoms of the disease.
Research shows that screening with a CT scan using lower doses of radiation (called a low-dose CT scan) can find lung cancer in people who are at high risk of developing lung cancer before they have any symptoms. This might help lower their risk of dying from lung cancer.
People who currently smoke tobacco or used to smoke tobacco have the highest risk of developing lung cancer. Talk to your healthcare team about your risk for lung cancer.
If you aren’t at high risk for lung cancer, you shouldn’t be screened for the disease. There isn’t enough evidence to know is screening is effective for people who don’t have a high risk because of their smoking history or other risk factors for lung cancer.
Some provinces and territories are starting to offer organized lung cancer screening programs and pilots. Find out more about lung cancer screening.
Your trusted source for accurate cancer information
With just $5 from readers like you, we can continue to provide the highest quality cancer information for over 100 types of cancer.
We’re here to ensure easy access to accurate cancer information for you and the millions of people who visit this website every year. But we can’t do it alone.
If everyone reading this gave just $5, we could achieve our goal this month to fund reliable cancer information, compassionate support services and the most promising research. Please give today because every contribution counts. Thank you.