BECKLEY, WV (WOAY) – November is Lung Cancer Awareness Month, and WOAY spoke with Raleigh General Hospital about the importance of getting screened.
Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths in West Virginia. But the numbers of lung cancer deaths have decreased greatly over the last two decades. Twenty years ago, 60 people per 100,000 died of lung cancer.
“Especially in the area that we live in West Virginia we have so many patients that are smokers and tobacco users. So it is extremely important to have the screening performed,” Imaging Director Michael Baker said.
Today, that number is cut nearly in half because of several important factors, including less people smoking, better lung cancer treatments and earlier detection of lung cancer with screenings.
“LDCT, which is a Low-dose CT scan. There is no contrast involved. There’s no prep involved whatsoever. You come on the day of the exam and it takes 10 – 15 minutes.”
Raleigh General Hospital encourages locals to get screened during this month.
“It is actually a lower price than what a normal CT scan of the chest would be because we’re trying to encourage people to have these perform.”
If you’re eligible and would like to schedule a lung cancer screening, call your primary care physician, to get yours on the calendar.
