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Lung Cancer Screening: So Many More Lives Could be Saved

2 minute read

In a commentary, Chi-Fu Jeffrey Yang, MD, and colleagues describe that while tens of thousands of lung cancer deaths can be prevented by lung cancer screening, only a fraction of adults at high risk of lung cancer are getting screened.

Chi-Fu Jeffrey Yang, MD
Chi-Fu Jeffrey Yang, MD

A new commentary by Alexandra Potter, BS, Lecia Sequist MD, and Chi-Fu Jeffrey Yang, MD, published in JAMA underscores that while screening with low-dose CT has tremendous potential for preventing lung cancer deaths, more than 80% of the approximately 13 million eligible adults in the U.S. are not getting screened. Even at the currently low uptake of screening, screening can prevent nearly 15,000 deaths and save more than 190,000 life-years over five years. If all eligible adults were screened, more than 62,000 deaths could be prevented and 870,000 life-years could be saved over five years, which is over 300% more than current estimates.

The commentary also highlights that current screening criteria set by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force miss about half of adults diagnosed with lung cancer, including: 1) people who have smoked long durations, but due to a low daily intensity, have too few pack-years and, 2) people who stopped smoking for more than 15 years. Recent updates from leading cancer organizations recommend expanding eligibility to include individuals who have smoked for at least 20 years (also known as the “Potter Criteria”), regardless of the number of pack-years, and removing the “15 years since quitting” requirement.

About Dr. Chi-Fu Jeffrey Yang

Dr. Yang is a thoracic surgeon and a leading advocate for increased awareness about lung cancer and lung cancer screening. Dr. Yang has been the lead or senior author on several high impact papers, including a study published in JAMA from this spring showing that rates of lung cancer screening are exceptionally low, even among people who are getting screened for breast cancer and colorectal cancer.

Read the paper (opens external link in new tab)

Paper cited: Potter AL et al.“Lung Cancer Screening Save Lives, But Could Save So Many More” JAMA DOI: 10.1001/jama.2025.23244

Authorship: Co-authors from Mass General Brigham include Alexandra L. Potter and Lecia V. Sequist.

Disclosures: Potter reported being on the board of the American Lung Cancer Screening Initiative. Sequist reported receiving grants from AstraZeneca, Novartis, and Delfi Diagnostics outside the submitted work. Yang reported receiving grants from AstraZeneca and personal fees from AstraZeneca and Genentech outside the submitted work and being founder and chair of the American Lung Cancer Screening Initiative.

Media contact

Elizabeth Murphy
Program Director, External Communications
emurphy@mgb.org

About Mass General Brigham

Mass General Brigham is an integrated academic health care system, uniting great minds to solve the hardest problems in medicine for our communities and the world. Mass General Brigham connects a full continuum of care across a system of academic medical centers, community and specialty hospitals, a health insurance plan, physician networks, community health centers, home care, and long-term care services. Mass General Brigham is a nonprofit organization committed to patient care, research, teaching, and service to the community. In addition, Mass General Brigham is one of the nation’s leading biomedical research organizations with several Harvard Medical School teaching hospitals. For more information, please visit massgeneralbrigham.org.