Screening for lung cancer early can save lives
Ottawa part of pilot program testing people at high risk
Debi Lascelle watched her father die from lung cancer, just months after being diagnosed. She knows first-hand how devastating the deadliest cancer can be — especially when it is diagnosed late, which it often is.
That is why the 60-year-old Ottawa woman agreed to take part in a study looking at the benefits of lung cancer screening for people at high risk. The aim is to catch the cancer early while more — and more successful — treatment options are available.
The study, she says, saved her life. Early-stage lung cancer was detected in one of her lungs when she had a CT scan as part of the study in 2010. She had laparoscopic surgery in 2011 to remove the growth, which was about the size of a dime, and is now considered cured. “I truly believe that it saved my life.”
Officials at The Ottawa Hospital are counting on improving the odds for more patients through a pilot program to screen people at high risk for lung cancer and offer programs to stop smoking.
The Champlain Region Cancer Program, at The Ottawa Hospital, is one of three regions across the province taking part in the Cancer Care Ontario program. The Champlain region screening pilot is also taking place at Renfrew Victoria Hospital.
Lascelle is one of two participants from the earlier study who are acting as patient advisers for the program. Stephen Aronson, who also took part in the earlier study, is the other.
Screening should make a huge difference for people at high risk of lung cancer, said Dr. Donna Maziak, a surgical oncologist and physician lead for the program.
“It will have a huge impact … to get the disease earlier and allow patients to have healthy, productive lives.”
The program is open to people between ages 55 and 74 who smoked for 20 or more years, although not necessarily consecutive years. Other factors that put people at high risk include having a close family member who died of lung cancer — as Lascelle did.
Ontario has screening programs for other cancers — notably breast, colon and cervical cancer — but does not routinely screen for lung cancer, which killed 7,100 people in Ontario in 2016, more than breast, colorectal and prostate cancers combined. Lung cancer screening is becoming routine in other parts of the world.
The screening program is done using a low-dose CT scan. It includes access to smoking cessation programs.
Lascelle said she was told her cancer would not have been detected with a routine chest X-ray. Without the screening program, and the CT scan, she believes she would not have been aware of it until it was too late.
“I think the people in Ottawa and Renfrew have a phenomenal opportunity to take part in this. I really don’t understand why someone wouldn’t.”
Lascelle said she grew up in a family of smokers and started smoking when she was 14. She quit when she was 41. Lung cancer remains among the most stigmatized of cancers, but Lascelle said there is no stigma in the screening program. “They just don’t do it.” She had been exercising regularly before her surgery and on the advice of her doctor, she began “training” for the surgery as if she was training for an athletic event.
She said she understands how people might fear being screened, but noted that it can detect cancer when it is still treatable.
“Do this for yourself, do this for your friends and family. It is a wonderful opportunity to possibly save your life.”
Patients can be referred through their doctors or nurse practitioners, or contact the program directly (1-844-394-1124). The program is open to 775 eligible patients in its first year.
Do this for yourself, do this for your friends and family. It is a wonderful opportunity to possibly save your life.