New guidelines would nearly double lung cancer screenings, benefit more women and Black people - NBC News

New recommendations for lung cancer screening would nearly double the number of Americans eligible for the test, according to guidelines released Tuesday by the U.S.

The draft guidelines propose lowering the eligibility age for lung cancer screening to 50 from 55, and lowering the number of years a person smoked an average of a pack a day (known as “pack years”) to 20 from 30 to qualify for the test.

The new recommendations will likely result in more women and African Americans becoming eligible for screenings, the guidelines say.

And broadening the age criteria will benefit African Americans: “We know that African Americans have a tendency to develop lung cancer at earlier ages, on average, than Caucasian individuals,” Antonoff said.

John Wong, a task force member and the chief scientific officer at Tufts University, said, “New evidence suggests we should be screening or can be screening many more people at high risk, who are now 50 to 80 years old, with a high-risk smoking history.”.

The task force, an independent panel of experts, last updated its guidelines for lung cancer screenings in 2013.

Although these new guidelines expand the number of people eligible for screening, getting patients to participate remains an obstacle.