Loading...
According to U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommendations and insurance requirements, eligibility for lung cancer screening by computed tomography requires ≥20 pack-years of smoking (NEJM JW Gen Med Apr 15 2021 and JAMA 2021; 325:962). Pack-year calculations combine “smoking intensity” (number of cigarettes daily) with smoking duration; however, we don't know if pack-years are a better marker for lung cancer risk than is smoking duration alone. This issue has relevance for racial disparities in the U.S.: Black patients, who tend to have lower smoking intensity than white patients, are less likely to qualify for screening and more likely to have advanced-stage lung cancers at diagnosis.
In this retrospective U.S. study, researchers ana…