"Breast cancer screenings and mammograms have been part of the cultural conversation around women's health for decades," Dr. Rahul Gosain, MD, MBA, the co-host of The Oncology Brothers, tells Parade. "That mainstream visibility has saved many lives, but it's also created a blind spot. Women over 50 face meaningful risk from a range of other cancers, and many of those screening tools are just as effective, just as accessible and far less utilized."
"Women are also at risk for other cancers, such as colon and pancreatic," states Dr. Daniel J. Boffa, MD, a professor of thoracic surgery at Yale School of Medicine. "If you think about all of the women who lose their battle with cancer each year, two-thirds are from cancers other than breast cancer."
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"The screening guidelines may change, so we recommend that patients who are 50 or older, who smoked in the past or are still smoking, ask their primary care clinician about screening," Dr. Boffa tells Parade.
"The scan also commonly catches the top part of your abdomen and may pick up abnormal areas in the top of your liver and adrenal glands," he says. "It is called low dose because it uses less radiation than a normal CT scan, which is roughly the radiation you would be exposed to on a flight from New York to California and back, from being closer to the sun."
"It also kills more women each year than breast, ovarian and uterine cancers combined," he shares.
"This is like the benefit of screening mammography and reduction of mortality," he says.
Related: Oncologists Are Begging People To Stop Using This Common Cleaning Product
Are There Risks to a Low-Dose CT Scan?
False positives, like a nodule caused by an old scar or healed infection, that require additional imaging (and it winds up not being cancerous)Limited radiation exposure ("The risk of the scan itself causing cancer is minimal, and for anyone who qualifies for screening, the benefit of early detection vastly outweighs it," he says.)Anxiety from the test
"The key is getting screened at an accredited facility with a shared decision-making conversation with your doctor, so you go in with clear expectations about what a positive result does and doesn't mean," Dr. Gosain explains.
A low-dose CT scan is pretty low maintenance. Dr. Reitherman says you can expect:
Not to need contrast (You won't need an IV or to take a tablet)Not to prepare—no fastingNo sedation or anesthesiaA 10-minute procedure, including getting on and off a tableRelated: We Asked 3 Oncologists About the Worst Thing You Can Do for Cancer Risk and They All Said the Same Thing
Low-Dose CT Scan Results
Repeat the scan in one yearRepeat the scan in six monthsConsult your doctor for further testing needed.
Dr. Boffa stresses that who you consult matters. He suggests speaking with a lung cancer surgeon, pulmonologist or another member of the lung cancer screening program team.
Up Next:
Related: ‘I’m a 50-Year-Old Oncologist—This Is the One Cancer Screening I’m Begging People Over 50 To Get'
Sources:
Dr. Rahul Gosain, MD, MBA, the co-host of The Oncology BrothersDr. Daniel J. Boffa, MD, a professor of thoracic surgery at Yale School of MedicineDr. Richard Reitherman, MD, Ph.D., a board-certified radiologist and medical director of breast imaging at MemorialCare Breast Center at Orange Coast Medical Center Lung Cancer Statistics. CDC.Lung Cancer: Screening. USPSTF.Lung Cancer Screening. Delaware Journal of Public Health.Hence then, the article about oncologists are begging women over 50 to get this one test and many are skipping it was published today ( ) and is available on Parade ( Saudi Arabia ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
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