UW-CTRI colleagues Kathleen Cantu and Dr. Hasmeena Kathuria promoted lung cancer screening and quitting tobacco use on National Lung Cancer Screening Day.
“Adding smoking cessation treatment to lung cancer screening can further reduce lung cancer risk,” Kathuria said, “so we want to do everything we can to help people access both of these preventive services.”
Only about 19% of eligible U.S. adults reported up-to-date lung cancer screening in 2024. Modeling suggests that increasing uptake to 100% could triple the number of lung cancer deaths prevented and life-years gained, potentially averting over 62,000 deaths.
Meanwhile, the Quit Line can now screen callers for lung cancer screening eligibility (ages 50–80 with at least 20 pack-years of smoking history) and refer them to a website for more information. The Quit Line is managed by UW-CTRI and funded by the Wisconsin Department of Health Services.