White Plains Hospital Launches Lung Cancer Screening Program for High-Risk Individuals
Program Targets Those with Significant Smoking History for Early Detection and Better Prognoses
White Plains Hospital has launched a lung cancer screening program in an effort to connect individuals with a significant smoking history who are at high risk for developing lung cancer with resources for early detection of disease and more favorable prognoses.
“Since lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer related death worldwide and in the United States, identifying it at an early, potentially curable stage is of great benefit” said Cynthia Chin, M.D., Principal Investigator for the Screening Program Study and Attending Thoracic Surgeon at White Plains Hospital. It is estimated that in 2012 there will be 250,000 new lung cancers identified and over 160,000 lung cancer related deaths in the United States.
The screening program, which will operate out of the Hospital’s Dickstein Cancer Treatment Pavilion, will offer low-dose CT scans of the chest free of charge to individuals who have a significant smoking history and do not have any symptoms of lung disease. In addition to providing the means to detect early lung cancer, the program will provide smoking cessation counseling and material to all participants who enroll. The risk of a cigarette smoker developing lung cancer is estimated to be approximately 25 times that of a nonsmoker, even if the individual has quit in the last 20 years.
The screening program consists of a brief health history questionnaire, provision of smoking cessation material, patient consent signing and a low dose CT-scan, which together last approximately 30 minutes during a single visit. Screening results will be communicated to the patient and the physician within a few days from the appointment, and immediate follow up testing will be coordinated if findings are suspicious for lung cancer. Those who do not show signs of disease will be scheduled for follow up testing one year later, also free of charge.
Interested individuals should contact Carly Clemons, Clinical Research Coordinator at the Dickstein Cancer Treatment Pavilion at White Plains Hospital at (914) 681-2365 or cclemons@wphospital.org.
###
White Plains Hospital (WPH) is a 292-bed voluntary, not-for-profit health care organization with the primary mission of offering high quality, acute health care and preventive medical care to all people who live in, work in or visit Westchester County and its surrounding areas. Centers of Excellence include the Dickstein Cancer Treatment Pavilion, The William & Sylvia Silberstein Neonatal & Maternity Center, The Ruth and Jerome A. Siegel Stroke Center and The Westchester Orthopedic Institute. The Hospital has the busiest Emergency Department in Westchester County, seeing nearly 55,000 visits a year. White Plains Hospital is the only community hospital in Westchester County licensed to perform emergency & elective angioplasty. The Hospital is a nine-time winner of the Consumer Choice Award, an honor given to the nation’s top hospitals by the National Research Corporation. WPH is a member of the New York-Presbyterian Healthcare System and the Stellaris Health Network, Inc. For additional information, visit http://www.wphospital.org.