Women underutilize CT scans for lung cancer

Margaret Zambon

Women were less likely to use CT scans for lung cancer screening than men, even though they are higher risk than men for the disease, according to a presenter at CHEST 2017.

“Prior research into gender differences in cancer screening has mostly focused on colorectal cancer screening, not lung cancer screening, as it is a relatively new preventive health measure,” Margaret M. Zambon, MD, department of pulmonary and critical care medicine, Lahey Hospital and Medical Center, Burlington Massachusetts, told Healio Family Medicine.

“More and more studies are finding that the biology of lung cancer in women is different from that of men, including the pathogenesis, the tumor type, their susceptibility to tobacco and other carcinogens, as well as their response to treatment and survival,” she continued.

Zambon and colleagues retrospectively reviewed records from 5,080 patients from the Lahey Hospital and Medical Center that met the criteria for lung cancer screening.

Of the patients studied, 46.9% were female. All patients’ personal cancer history, smoking status, time from initial contact to screening and lung cancer screening status were reviewed.

Zambon and colleagues found that more women than men had a personal cancer history (14.5% vs. 12.1%; P = .014); met high risk criteria for lung cancer, but had not had a CT scan (12.5% vs. 10.7%; P = .044); and waited to have their baseline exam (4.8% vs. 3.7%; P = .059).

There was no difference between the sexes in the proportion of those who smoked, quit smoking, relapsed during the program and the proportion of those diagnosed with lung cancer, according to researchers.

“We also found that most patients were referred for their initial screening CT by their primary care physician. It may be helpful for these clinicians to assess the health beliefs, fears and barriers to lung cancer screening in their female patients to encourage screening,” Zambon said.

“In general, women have been shown to have better responses to treatment and better overall survival than men,” she continued. “It is imperative for women to have lung cancer screening.” – by Janel Miller

Reference: Zambon M, et al. Control ID: 2745397. Presented at: CHEST Annual Meeting. Oct. 28–Nov. 1, 2017; Toronto.

Disclosures: Healio Family Medicine was unable to determine the authors’ relevant disclosures prior to publication.