Methodist Hospitals’ early-detection lung cancer screening is saving lives

Methodist Hospitals is revitalizing its low-dose CT lung screening program that was initiated more than a decade ago, and expanding its reach to serve as an important care option for eligible candidates. The quick, painless screening is used to identify early-stage cancer in high risk adults who may or may not have yet shown symptoms, when the disease is most treatable.  Low Dose CT screenings have been shown to reduce lung cancer mortality among high risk individuals by as much as 20 percent.

“When evaluating whether someone is a candidate for Low-Dose CT lung cancer screening, we take into account several factors,” said Dr. Ritika Singh, a pulmonologist at Methodist Hospitals. “Candidates are between the ages of 50 to 80 and typically, they are a current smoker or have a significant smoking history if they are no longer smoking.”

Additional factors may increase a current or former smoker’s likelihood to be a candidate for Low-Dose CT lung cancer screening. These factors include occupational exposure, radon exposure, chronic lung disease and family history of lung cancer.

As a part of its commitment to offer best practices in lung care, Methodist Hospitals secured a special accreditation.  Methodist Hospitals’ Northlake Campus, Southlake Diagnostic Center and CareFirst Schererville Imaging Center are all ACR Designated Lung Cancer Screening Centers of Excellence.  Securing and maintaining this accreditation is a major effort that has taken the work of the entire multidisciplinary team.  

To help ensure that appropriate patients receive the screening, Methodist employs a Radiology Navigator, David Vandenoever, to facilitate the process and connect patients with follow up care when needed.  The hospital system also aims to lower the barriers to care by increasing awareness of the benefits of Low Dose CT screening.

“We want patients to catch their cancer at an earlier stage,” Singh said. “Our Low-Dose CT lung cancer screening program helps increase awareness and provides care that Northwest Indiana patients deserve. Our program has created a structured pathway to care that helps capture and track high-risk patients.”

Over the course of her career, Singh has seen patients who may not have had access to Low-Dose CT lung cancer screening and, as a result, sometimes face a tough scenario.

“As an intensivist and a pulmonologist, I take care of patients in the intensive care unit (ICU) with advanced lung cancer,” said Singh. “At times, I am seeing them with respiratory failure, on ventilators, with families making impossible decisions in real time.  By the time the patient enters the ICU, our options may look different than if their cancer was caught earlier.”

While Methodist Hospitals is a relatively small hospital system compared to others nationally, it has a significant Low-Dose CT lung cancer screening footprint. Patients come to Methodist Hospitals from Chicago and all across Indiana for the screening.

Those who believe they may be a candidate for a Low-Dose CT lung cancer screening should call Methodist Central Scheduling at 219.981.5440.  Early detection can make an incredible impact on health outcomes.

“Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in the U.S. I cannot emphasize enough how big of a difference Low-Dose CT lung cancer screening can make in a patient’s prognosis,” Singh said.

To learn more about Methodist Hospitals’ Low Dose CT lung cancer screening, you can visit its website here.