Wadley offers lung cancer screening

A computerized axial tomography scan machine at Wadley Advanced Imaging on Summerhill Road and Moores Lane in Texarkana, Texas, shows a cross section of lungs, the heart, ribs and a sternum. The machine and low-dose radiation makes screening for lung cancer easy.
A computerized axial tomography scan machine at Wadley Advanced Imaging on Summerhill Road and Moores Lane in Texarkana, Texas, shows a cross section of lungs, the heart, ribs and a sternum. The machine and low-dose radiation makes screening for lung cancer easy.

Wadley Advanced Imaging, located at 5508 Summerhill Road, Texarkana, Texas, offers a test to screen individuals at high risk for lung cancer.

The low-dose CT is an annual screening test that's covered by Medicare but there's certain criteria that must be met.

The person must be 55 to 77, asymptomatic for lung cancer with a tobacco smoking history of one pack a day for 30 years or two packs a day for 15 years.

"The reason we do this is because lung cancer is a leading cause of cancer death among both men and women, so we started offering our patients the low-dose, lung cancer screening CT," said Karen Wacha, director of outpatient imaging at Wadley Advanced Imaging.

The test can detect lung cancer in the very early stages, giving patients a higher chance of being cured or having a better outcome.

People who think they might meet the criteria are advised to speak with their family practice doctor.

"They will get counseling from their physician. It's called a shared decision making visit. During that visit, their physician will determine if they're eligible," Wacha said. "Then the physician will refer them or give them an order form."

Physicians will also provide counseling about the importance of this annual lung cancer screening and if the patient is still smoking, they will discuss the risks of continuing to smoke and the benefits of quitting.

There is currently a national lung cancer screening trial going on right now.

"Thus far, they're showing this lung cancer screening lowers a person's chance of dying from lung cancer by 20 percent," Wacha said.

The test is pain-free and takes approximately five minutes to perform.

"The CT scan is a simple, pain-free procedure which uses X-ray to scan the entire chest for 12-20 seconds. Throughout the procedure, the patient lies very still while passing through the machine and a computer creates 3-D images from the scan," Wacha said.

Once the CT is complete, the results are read by a radiologist who produces a report. That report is sent to the referring physician and also a letter is generated and sent to each patient with the results.

Wadley Advanced Imaging has performed close to 100 of these screenings so far and suspicious findings requiring further testing have been required in about 12 percent of cases.

"I've been very impressed," Wacha said. "The importance of this test to me is that it might save a life. To me, if I can do something to prolong a life, then that's what I want to be able to offer."

The ultimate goal for the low-dose CT scan is to catch lung cancer early in those most susceptible to it and increase the number of people who survive this deadly cancer.

"It's like anything else, if they can catch lung cancer early, there's a better chance of surviving it," said Shelby Brown, Wadley Regional Medical Center director of marketing.

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