AnMed Health unveils program aimed at early detection of lung cancer

AnMed Health has unveiled a lung nodule program at the office of AnMed Health Pulmonary and Sleep Medicine, 2000 E Greenville Street, Suite 1100, Anderson, S.C. A lung or pulmonary nodule is a small round or oval-shaped growth in the lung, usually found incidentally on a chest X-ray or CT scan. Lung nodules often cause no symptoms; therefore, they usually go undetected without advanced testing. The program allows patients to receive low-dose CT screenings in an effort to detect the nodules early.

The goal of the program is to coordinate care so that patients benefit from a multidisciplinary team who collaborates to provide the highest quality care and who helps you navigate the health system. Early detection of lung cancer is crucial to achieving the best outcomes. “The goals of the clinic are to maximize early detection of lung disease with minimal procedures and to assist referring providers with ongoing lung nodule monitoring,” Dr. Abhijit Raval, medical director of interventional pulmonology and pulmonary vascular disease.

While more than 90 percent of lung nodules are benign or not cancerous, some nodules may be an early stage of lung cancer. Nodules also may indicate a more advanced lung cancer where cancer has spread from another part of the body to the affected lung.

According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), cigarette smoking causes more than 480,000 deaths each year in the U.S. The American Lung Association says that more than half of the people with lung cancer die within one year of being diagnosed.