Lung cancer screenings save lives by detecting cancer in an early stage — when the disease is treatable. If you smoke, have a family history of lung cancer, or have other risk factors for lung cancer, you can undergo lung cancer screenings at Stat Care Pulmonary and Sleep.
Our pulmonary specialists, Himanshu Chandarana, MD, and Ashok Tyagi, DO, CPE, use advanced technologies to assess lung health and identify early signs of cancer.
They also customize care plans for cancer and other lung diseases to improve and protect your long-term respiratory health.
Lung cancer develops when abnormal cells grow in one or both lungs. The cells divide and form tumors that can block oxygen, making breathing more difficult. Cancer that starts in the lungs can also spread to other areas of the body.
Lung cancer has two types:
Non-small cell lung cancer is the most common and grows more slowly than small cell lung cancer.
Small cell lung cancer spreads faster than NSCLC and is strongly associated with smoking.
Lung cancer originates from smoking in most cases, but nonsmokers may develop it due to exposure to asbestos, air pollution, and other environmental toxins, or from genetic factors.
Stat Care Pulmonary and Sleep specializes in lung cancer screenings for people at elevated risk of lung cancer. We complete a health history to determine if you meet the criteria for lung cancer screenings based on your smoking history, age, family history, and other risk factors.
In general, people over 50 with a 20-pack-a-year smoking history should have routine lung cancer screenings. We also recommend screenings for people who still smoke and for those who have quit smoking in the last 15 years.
Preventive lung cancer screenings help protect your lung health and save your life by detecting cancer early. Like other preventive tests, you may need to schedule a screening annually so the team can monitor changes in your lungs from year to year.
Stat Care Pulmonary and Sleep offers low-dose computed tomography (LDCT) in-office to screen for lung cancer.
During your visit, you lie on a special table that slides into an X-ray machine, a technology that uses low doses of radiation to create images of your lungs. The test is painless and only takes a few minutes to complete.
Our team reviews the scan results, checking for abnormalities that could indicate small cell or non-small cell lung cancer. If suspicious tissue is present, we may recommend additional tests, such as a biopsy to remove a tissue sample from the lungs for further evaluation.
If your lung cancer screening results are clear, we discuss how often to schedule follow-up screenings. Our office also provides smoking cessation resources for people who still smoke and suggests lifestyle changes to protect their lung health.
Call Stat Care Pulmonary and Sleep in St. Petersburg, Florida, today to learn more about the benefits of lung cancer screenings.
