Veterans ages 55 to 80 who are current or former cigarette smokers may be eligible to participate in a new lung cancer screening program at the Tennessee Valley Healthcare System (TVHS) Nashville campus.

The new program uses low-dose computed tomography (CT) scans for high-risk individuals to detect signs of lung cancer. High-risk Veterans are between 55 and 80 years old, current or former cigarette smokers who quit within the past 15 years and have a smoking history of at least 30 pack-years.

Studies show that screening high-risk individuals with low-dose CT scans save lives from lung cancer. This program is crucial for Veterans; approximately one million Veterans are high-risk for lung cancer. If screened and detected early, cancer is 80 percent curable. The program has detected four cancers from a total of 46 Veterans - two lung, one esophageal, and one liver.

"Our lung cancer screening program is using other exposures beyond tobacco that our Veterans have had during their deployments that may increase their risk of lung cancer, such as agent orange and burn pits," Dr. Jennifer Lewis, TVHS lung cancer screening program co-director said. "These exposures are not part of the standard lung cancer screening criteria used in the community and is an example of how our program is planning to adapt to meet Veteran needs."

TVHS is the only VA Medical Center to offer the lung cancer screening program as a group clinic. This type of clinic fosters Veterans' efforts to quit tobacco usage and creates a sense of community for Veterans. Veterans can also expect reduced traveling and scheduling since the CT scans and group clinic take place Fridays at noon - 1:00 p.m.

The new program is currently offered at Nashville and will be available at the Alvin C. York campus in Murfreesboro and other TVHS clinics later this year.

Veterans who are interested should discuss the screening with their primary care provider or other healthcare provider.

"My best advice is to get screened because lung cancer does not produce symptoms until the late stages," said Pamela Humphrey, program coordinator. "Our goal is to save Veterans' lives from lung cancer through early detection and prevention."

TVHS is an integrated tertiary health care system comprised of two hospitals, the Alvin C. York Campus in Murfreesboro and the Nashville Campus, as well as more than a dozen community-based outpatient clinics located in Tennessee and Kentucky. TVHS provides ambulatory care, primary care, and secondary care in acute medicine and surgery, specialized tertiary care, transplant services, spinal cord injury outpatient care, and a full range of extended care and mental health services.