By Beth Allen, CRA, RT(R)(CT)
October is a month that we highlight women’s health and focus on mammography. A mammogram appointment does not need to occur in October. Anytime of year is a good time for a mammogram. In fact, it may be easier to get an appointment in any other month. Regardless of when, a mammogram should be done.
Over the years, breast cancer awareness has been a successful campaign to make sure women prioritize themselves and take the time to get a quick and easy mammogram. There are many memes out there making fun of being squished in the mammo machine or other less than pleasant aspects of the exam. The important message, though, is that each mother, sister, daughter, grandma, wife, or girlfriend within the recommended age group should get a screening mammogram. Early detection can save her life.
What about the other screening exams performed in imaging?
One example is low dose CT lung screening. Women have a 1 in 17 chance of developing lung cancer, according to the American Cancer Society. I did some quick research with my good friend, Google, and it was easy to find information regarding the extremely low number of women who qualify that have a CT lung screening. I also found information about how the lung cancer rate for women is increasing drastically. In an article I found on the National Library of Medicine, called “Examining Gender Differences in Lung Cancer Screening” (Randhawa S, Sferra SR, Das C, Kaiser LR, Ma GX, Erkmen CP. Examining Gender Differences in Lung Cancer Screening. J Community Health. 2020 Oct;45(5):1038-104), from 1979 to 2020, the incidence of lung cancer dropped by 35%, while it rose by 87% for women. Lung cancer mortality in women has increased over 600% since 1950.Â
Often, lung cancer in women is detected at an advanced stage, making it more difficult to treat. I found that there are various theories as to why this is, but it highlights the importance of screening those women that meet the criteria. The recommendations from the United States Preventive Services Task Force include women and men aged 50-80 that have a minimum 20 pack-year smoking history and have not quit within the last 15 years. This CT scan is quicker than a mammogram and no squishing required.
Lung cancer kills more women than breast cancer.
I discovered an article titled “Ten reasons to screen women at risk of lung cancer”. (Revel, MP., Chassagnon, G. Ten reasons to screen women at risk of lung cancer. Insights Imaging 14, 176 (2023). https://rdcu.be/dR2Oi
This article was written as a recommendation for European women, but I would argue that it rings true for all women. The point that caught my eye was #7- “From an organizational point of view, lung cancer screening could be combined with breast cancer screening.” Many locations offer both mammography and CT, so having both exams performed on the same day would be easy and convenient for women. The age recommendations closely align so this could become part of a patient’s annual wellness conversation with her provider.
Numbers 9 and 10 highlight the fact that lung cancer screening is also an opportunity to screen for osteoporosis and coronary heart disease in women, which are a couple of very important value additions to the CT scan.
The conclusion of the article makes a strong argument for why it would be important to increase the number of women that are screened for lung cancer for our communities at large.
“In addition to all these reasons, women can contribute to smoking prevention by encouraging their partners and children to not smoke or stop smoking, as women are more often concerned about the health of others than their own. This could help build a new tobacco-free generation.”
Let’s get the message out to each mother, sister, daughter, grandma, wife, or girlfriend that is a smoker or former smoker, that lung screening is an additional path to early detection. It could save her life.
Thanks for all you do!Â
– Beth Allen CRA, RT(R)(CT), is the director of clinical operations with Banner Imaging.
