Lung cancer is the deadliest cancer among Veterans and one of the most common with almost 8,000 Veterans diagnosed and treated for lung cancer every year at VA. But when caught early, lung cancer is treatable. World Lung Cancer Day reminds us of this critically important cancer type that frequently impacts Veterans.
As one of the nearly 900,000 Veterans who may be eligible for lung cancer screening, Bernard Dorsey is an Army Veteran whose lung cancer was caught because of a routine screening. Due to his age and history of smoking cigarettes, Dorsey met the eligibility criteria for a low-dose CT scan to screen for lung cancer, where it was identified that Dorsey had nodules on his lungs.
“It kind of makes you wonder if you’re going to live or what’s going to happen. If I hadn’t been doing the screening, I’d probably still be smoking. It could have been too late,” Dorsey said.
Because Dorsey’s cancer was identified in a timely manner, it only required surgery to remove the cancer. He was able to avoid being treated with radiation and chemotherapy, which are often required for more advanced stages of lung cancer.
Dorsey is pictured above arriving at a VA medical center.
What does it mean to be screened for lung cancer?
If you and your provider decide lung cancer screening is right for you, VA provides an annual low-dose computed tomography (CT) scan. A low-dose CT scan requires lying down on a table where an x-ray machine takes detailed images of your lungs using minimal radiation. The scan only takes a few minutes and doctors use the images to look for signs of lung cancer like the nodules on Dorsey’s lungs. If results are normal, it is still important to return every year for a screening scan.
Lung cancer and the importance of screening was recently highlighted by the Wall Street Journal and included one of VA’s experts on screening, Dr. Nichole Tanner, who emphasized how VA has ramped up screening efforts recently.
You may qualify for lung cancer screening if you meet these criteria:
- You are 50 to 80 years old
- Smoke cigarettes now or quit within the past 15 years
- Smoked cigarettes for at least 20 pack-years
A pack-year estimates how many cigarettes you have smoked in your lifetime. 20 “pack-years” equals smoking one pack of cigarettes a day for 20 years or two packs of cigarettes a day for 10 years.
High-quality equitable lung cancer screening
VA has increased its lung cancer screening rate by nearly 80% over the past three years by focusing on providing systemic and equitable access to high-quality lung cancer screening, said Dr. Nichole Tanner, a pulmonary and critical-care physician at Ralph H. Johnson VA in Charleston, S.C. “We’re moving in the right direction.”
Veterans are encouraged to discuss screening with their care team to determine whether undergoing lung cancer screening is an appropriate choice for them. Positive treatment outcomes often come from being screened early and regularly.
“We’ve been able to establish the National Center for Lung Cancer Screening, a patient management system that increases our ability to find and offer screenings to eligible Veterans, and then leverage it all to create processes that really work,” Tanner said.
Support for Veterans
Tobacco cessation support is provided to current smokers as part of lung screening to help them quit. Veterans may be able to receive counseling and medicines that support their tobacco cessation goals.
Resources available to support quitting smoking include:
- Call the VA national Quitline at 1-855-QUIT-VET (1-855-784-8838) to be connected immediately with a tobacco cessation counselor and receive free telephone counseling in English or Spanish.
- Sign up for SmokefreeVET to receive text message tips and support on your cellphone, even if you use smokeless tobacco. Text the word VET to 47848 (or VETesp to 47848 for Spanish) or visit smokefree.gov/VET.
- Use the Stay Quit Coach.
- Visit the Quit Tobacco and Veterans Smoke Free websites.
All VA providers stand shoulder to shoulder with Veterans and support them on every step of their cancer journey. For more information on VA and cancer screening, visit cancer.va.gov.
For more about the recommended screening tests and immunizations, visit:
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It’s also important to focus on Veterans that have had exposures as well, such as chemicals, radiation, and airborne toxins. Even Veterans that do not smoke are at risk because of those exposures and also to second and third hand smoke.
I am a veteran but currently do not have va benefits but have a Claim in for the pact act,
The screening for lung cancer article only mentions availability for Vets, what about dependents? Also, if dependents can have it done can they get the CT scan done at an other facility then a VA center?
My provider did a CT screening for lung cancer last year which just met the 15-year criteria. There were some nodules & I was sent to see a pulmonary specialist. She did a PET scan & found pancreatic cancer which ended up being stage 4, non-operable, but I am still here a year later & I am so glad my provider took that CT! (Not stage 4 pancreatic cancer patients make it past a year)
Do you even read the comments? What about all of us exposed to asbestos? No screening for us?
Like to be tested
Yes I would be interested in the lung cancer screening
I had Lung cancer in 2103 went to Va and was told they could not get me in for 2 years in Greenville NC so went to civilian hospital. Removed 2 Sections of right lung When I filed the claim it was turned down by VA stating so called Lung cancer My oncologist had submitted next to VA and stated it it more like than not a result of the water at camp Lejeune.
My husband is 100% disabled due to his exposure to Agent Orange from his year tour in Vietnam. He has bladder cancer. Is Lung cancer something we should have him tested for? He has a severe cough and is constantly coughing up lots of thick Flem.
I am 76 year old. Smoked 40 pack years with about 20 of them with non-filtered brands like Pall Mall and Lucky Strikes, was exposed to many cancer-causing chemicals found in automotive, aviation and construction trades, worked mask-less for decades with airborne talcum-powder-fine asbestos that was blown off brake backing plates beginning in the 1960s, and fired an M-60 machine gun for a year in combat with resultant toxicity.
You, the reader, might look at all that and surmise that this person is at high risk for lung cancer and other respiratory issues. And, you might well be correct. Alas, the pity of it is that I gave up smoking more than 15 years ago, and the “ivory tower experts” would say otherwise. Which, as the rational person you are, you might have trouble with, as do I.
Therefore, low-radiation CT scans are not available to this veteran. Which sort of fits with the levels of care from the past for PTSD and assorted other combat-related issues that were never addressed. Well, till death do we part, that is.
By the way, when one does not have a website, he or she should be able to put “None” in the field.
Yes, metastasis or another primary cancer may be possible, better safe than sorry. (I am a fellow vet not a VA employee)
Although I’m a non-smoker, does second hand smoking or exposure to asbestos or lead paint a factor in getting a screening completed
I was diagnosed with lung cancer in January 2023 by Johns Hopkins. In my time receiving care at DC VA I was never offered screening even though VA new that I was a previous smoker. VA is very good at covering its tracks. I have recently completed 33 rounds of radiation treatments.
I appreciate this article, but the screening does not include nonsmokers such as myself. You are not screening everyone, where 60% of people diagnosed with lung cancer are nonsmokers or haven’t smoked in the last ten years. This is where we see late stage diagnosis of lung cancer. My lung cancer was diagnosed Stage 4B, NSCLC and I never smoked.
You never mentioned the Vietnam veteran who was exposed to agent orange and lung cancer.
You should research and write an article on that subject yourself
Mr. Frank has a valid comment. Also, Vietnam Veterans can an Agent Orange Registry exam that includes chest x-rays and screening