Types of Cancer > Lung Cancer > Screening & Detection

Screening & Detection for Lung Cancer

Detecting lung cancer is difficult because symptoms usually do not appear until the disease has advanced. Symptoms may include: persistent cough, hoarseness or wheezing, shortness of breath, sputum streaked with blood, recurring bronchitis or pneumonia, weight loss and loss of appetite and chest pain.

International Early Lung Cancer Action Program
Greenwich Hospital is participating in the International Early Lung Cancer Action Program (I-ELCAP) to determine whether early lung screenings using low dose computed tomography (CT) can reduce mortality rates from lung cancer. Low dose CT may be useful in diagnosing lung cancer by exposing patients to less radiation than a conventional CT scan, while allowing physicians to see areas of the chest typically obscured in a standard x-ray. Patients considered at a higher risk for cancer (due to smoking, family history or other factors) may benefit from this technique, which can detect very small tumors. The goal is to spot lung cancers at an earlier, more curable phase.