Lung Cancer Farmington, NM
Low-dose CT lung screening is an early lung cancer detection tool (check here), used to find the disease in its earliest stages.
No symptoms or family cancer history are required to be tested. But because we know that early detection offers the best chance to effectively treat lung cancer in Farmington, we use low-dose computed tomography (low-dose CT scan or LDCT).
Low levels of radiation are used to scan the body to find lung cancer, employing highly-detailed images.
At X-Ray Associates of New Mexico, we know you need answers. Our same-day imaging provides them quickly because we’re committed to caring. Check up Lung Cancer Farmington today.
Low-dose CT lung screening in Farmington
XRANM offers low-dose CT lung screening Farmington. We’ve been bringing New Mexico patients and doctors patient-centered care at our clinics throughout New Mexico for 65 years.
Over the last 2 decades, we’ve pioneered diagnostics which were once unavailable in New Mexico. We’ve changed the game to ensure that patients in this state get world-class assistance and early detection of illnesses like lung cancer.
Should I get screened for Lung Cancer Farmington?
The US Preventative Services Task Force’s recommendations state that people meeting the following descriptions should be screened:
- Those who have either smoked heavily in the past or who currently smoke heavily*
- People who continue to smoke or who quit within the past 15 years
- People between 55 and 80 years-of-age
*Heavy smoking means patients who have smoked at least 1 pack of 20 cigarettes every day for 30 years or more. People who have smoked 2 packs of 20 cigarettes for 15 years or more are in the same category.
Are there risks involved in lung screenings?
Prior to scheduling your low-dose CT lung screening in Farmington, patients should be aware that there are certain risks which come with this test, as follows:
- It may happen that the diagnostic will render a “false positive” (detecting lung cancer when the patient doesn’t have it). This can mean more testing and even unnecessary surgery.
- Testing sometimes detects cancers which don’t threaten the health of the patient. This is referred to by clinicians as “overdiagnosis”, as therapy will sometimes be applied unnecessarily.
- Repeated exposure to LDCT means repeated exposure to radiation, with the result that patients run the risk of scan-induced cancer.
Because of these health risks, low-dose CT lung screening in Farmington is offered to patients with no symptoms or family history, but only those in the high-risk groups shown above.
Your best defense against lung cancer is quitting smoking. Screening is no substitute for eliminating the serious health risk of cigarette smoking.
Who shouldn’t be screened?
The Preventative Services Task Force has recommended that people 81 or older, or who haven’t smoked for over 15 years, as well as people with health complications which preclude surgery (if cancer is found), shouldn’t be screened.
XRANM offers a full range of world-class radiology diagnostics, including low-dose CT lung screening in Farmington. We’re the New Mexico leaders, having raised the bar for other providers in our state, offering you the most up-to-the-minute technologies available anywhere.
Contact us to schedule your low-dose CT lung screening for lung cancer in Farmington, NM.