CHRISTUS Santa Rosa Health System - LiveWell

The best way to beat lung cancer is to find it early. A new screening service at CHRISTUS Santa Rosa Hospital – New Braunfels helps physicians do just that. Lung cancer claims the lives of more Americans than any other form of cancer. By the time symptoms appear, such as a chronic cough or chest pain, the disease is often in an advanced stage, and treatment may have little effect. Find lung cancer early in its development, however, and the prognosis is more hopeful. "It's possible to detect certain cancers at late stages and do OK; lung cancer is not one of them," says Clare Savage, M.D., diagnostic and interventional radiologist at CHRISTUS Santa Rosa Hospital – New Braunfels. "Early detection significantly improves outcomes and can extend lives." Earlier this year, CHRISTUS Santa Rosa Hospital – New Braunfels introduced lung cancer screening using a low-dose computed tomography (CT) scan, an imaging test that is better able to detect early-stage disease than the previous gold standard, chest x-ray. A physician's referral is not required; patients simply need to: + be 55 to 77 years old and + have no history of lung cancer and + have smoked one pack of cigarettes a day for 30 years or two packs a day for 15 years Patients can have the screening annually, as long as they meet the criteria. IT'S ALL HERE A safe, effective screening is just part of the full range of diagnostic and therapeutic services CHRISTUS Santa Rosa Hospital – New Braunfels offers for lung cancer. If a screening finds a mass that is concerning, an interventional radiologist such as Dr. Savage can perform a minimally invasive, CT-guided needle biopsy. A pathologist will examine the tissue sample for cancer. "We have a screening that can detect cancer in patients who might have gone undiagnosed previously, the ability to quickly biopsy and diagnose disease, a type of imaging called positron emission tomography that shows whether cancer has spread to other parts of the body, a thoracic surgeon to remove tumors, and oncologists to manage the entire process," Dr. Savage says. "All of that is quite unique for a community the size of ours." ✚ Need another reason to kick the habit? If you give up smoking, you can nearly halve your risk of dying from lung cancer in 10 years, according to the Office of the Surgeon General. For $99, patients receive a noninvasive, 90-second CT scan to detect abnormalities in the lungs. On the Lookout for Lung Cancer Interested in having a low-dose CT screening for lung cancer? Visit christussantarosa.org/lungcancer to schedule one. Fall 2017 | christussantarosa.org CANCER CARE 7

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