8 March 2023IN MY OPINIONLung Cancer Screening ProgramBy Susan MacIntyre, Director of Radiology, Washington Health SystemAccording to the American Lung Association, lung cancer is the leading cancer killer in both men and women in the United States and is responsible for around 25% of all cancer deaths. In the U.S., one in 15 men will be diagnosed with lung cancer in their lifetime, and one in 17 women will be. Black men and women are more likely to develop and die from lung cancer than persons of any other racial or ethnic group, a statistic that we unfortunately see often. My name is Susan MacIntyre, and I am the Director of Radiology at Washington Health System (WHS) in Washington, Pennsylvania. I work directly with our Lung Screening program, which we launched in July of 2020. This innovative program has allowed us to be proactive about lung cancer diagnosis. According to American College of Radiology in Feb 2022, lung cancer was named the deadliest cancer for both genders, killing more people each year than breast, colorectal, and prostate cancer combined. Early detection is the key, because lung cancer has one of the lowest 5-year survival rates. This is due to a high percentage of patients being diagnosed in later stages of the disease. The lung cancer screen process is a low-risk procedure that comes with the highest reward of early detection. It can save lives. My work with cancer screening hits home for me. In 1998, I found out that I had Hodgkin's Lymphoma. It was discovered completely by accident--I had been volunteering for an MRI scan on a new device when the cancer was found. I completed six months of treatment at a local hospital in Pittsburgh, PA and have been cancer-free since the end of my chemo treatments. The one positive that came out Susan MacIntyre
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