Despite lung cancer being the No. 1 cause of cancer death for both men and women, relatively few people get screened. Only about 1% of those eligible in California are getting checked, which has prompted UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center to act. 

“We need to address this crisis,” thoracic surgeon David Tom Cooke said. “People who are between 50 and 80 years of age who smoke or who used to smoke need to talk to their doctor about getting screened for lung cancer.” 

Cooke, who is chief of the Division of General Thoracic Surgery said that new robotic procedures his team uses make life-saving diagnosis and removal of lung cancer possible during a single surgery — but eligible patients must be screened to detect the lung cancer before it spreads. 

“Most of the lung cancer patients I operate on were never screened,” Cooke said. “Many come to me only after they experience symptoms, which usually means the cancer has progressed to a more advanced stage when it is harder to treat.” 

The launch of the cancer center’s new  Lung Cancer, Lung Nodule Early Detection (Lung-LEAD) Clinic comes this month as Lung Cancer Awareness Month gets underway. 

“It all starts with getting eligible patients in to be screened for lung cancer,” said Cooke who will serve as associate physician lead of the new lung cancer integrated service line that is starting the new clinic. 

Innovative approach to reaching patients who should be screened 

Cancer center providers are conducting comprehensive lung cancer screening outreach with UC Davis Health primary care patients. The Lung-LEAD Clinic has dedicated “lung care navigators” who reach out to eligible patients to conduct virtual screenings. If patients are willing and meet the criteria, then the navigators schedule an appointment with an advanced practice provider to discuss receiving a low-dose CT scan to check for lung cancer. 

Low-dose CT scans take less than five minutes to complete, and do not require any injections or blood draws. They’re called “low-dose” because the radiation delivered is far less than that of conventional CT scans. 

“Getting a low-dose CT scan is painless and patients don’t even need to remove their clothes or shoes,” said Chinh Phan, director of the UC Davis Health Interventional Pulmonology Program. “In many ways, low-dose CT scans are much easier than getting a mammogram.” 

The idea is for UC Davis Health primary clinics to initiate contact with patients rather than wait for patients to schedule a checkup with their physician, similar to what is done to schedule a mammogram. 

“There is a stigma associated with smoking that, frankly, prevents a lot of people from bringing up getting a lung cancer screening with their doctor,” Phan said. “There is no judgment here. Tobacco addiction is tremendously powerful and harmful. With 80% of all lung cancer tied to tobacco use, we have to talk about it openly and encourage our patients to get screened so that, if they do get lung cancer, it is caught early when there’s a best chance for it to be cured.”

“Early detection of lung cancer through a low-dose CT scan offers vital advantages,” said Jonathan Reiss, medical director of Thoracic Oncology and the physician lead for the Lung-LEAD Clinic. “By identifying potential early-stage lung cancer before symptoms arise and it spreads, we can bring to bear timely interventions and treatments such as surgery or focused radiation, thereby improving the chance of a cure. Our multidisciplinary team will work diligently to make sure our patients will get timely, leading-edge treatments.”