USPSTF finalizes screening recommendations

Older smokers at high risk of lung cancer should receive annual low-dose CT scans, according to U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommendations published earlier this week. The USPSTF concluded that the benefits for a very specific segment of smokers outweigh the risks involved in receiving the annual scans. Specifically, the task force recommended annual low-dose CT scans for current and former smokers age 55 to 80 with at least a 30 "pack-year" history of smoking who have had a cigarette sometime within the last 15 years. The person also should be generally healthy and a good candidate for surgery should cancer be found.