November is Lung Cancer Awareness Month

Inova offers screening to smokers, ex-smokers

Falls Church, VA – (November 1, 2012) – Recently, The New England Journal of Medicine published a study with results of the National Cancer Institute’s National Lung Screening Trial, which indicated that low-dose CT scans can have a positive impact on lung cancer mortality. This study is the first comprehensive clinical trial to find that screening high risk individuals with low-dose CT scan reduces lung cancer deaths by 20 percent when compared to traditional chest x-rays. Additionally, by using low-dose CT scans, there is minimal radiation exposure. With this information, cancer institutes across the country, including Inova, now use this form of testing as a standard of care.

The Inova Lung Cancer Screening Program offers low dose CT scans, with a cost of $310, for individuals matching the following criteria:

• Age 55 – 74 years old
• More than 30 packs per year history of smoking
• Smoking cessation less than 15 years

OR

• Age 50 years and older
• More than 20 packs per year history of smoking
• One additional risk factor (other than second-hand smoke)

In addition to the screening, the Inova Thoracic Oncology Program, Life with Cancer and the Lung Cancer Alliance are hosting an awareness event featuring a multidisciplinary discussion on current treatments in lung cancer.

Thursday, November 15 from 6:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
Dewberry Life with Cancer™ Family Center, 8411 Pennell Street, Fairfax, VA 22031

Call 703.776.3777 to schedule your Lung Cancer Screening or RSVP for the event.

About Inova
Inova is a not-for-profit health care system located in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area, serving over two million people with over 1,700 licensed beds based in Northern Virginia.  Inova consists of five hospitals including the area’s only Level 1 Trauma Center and Level 3 Neonatal Intensive Care unit.  Inova encompasses many health services including the nationally and internationally recognized Inova Heart and Vascular Institute (IHVI), Inova Translational Medicine Institute (ITMI) on genomics, Inova Neuroscience Institute and Inova Children’s Hospital.  Inova’s mission is to improve the health of the diverse community it serves through excellence in patient care, education and research.  More information and statistics about Inova is at www.inova.org.
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