SACRAMENTO — Lung most cancers claims greater than 120,000 lives a 12 months and a easy scan can exponentially enhance your probabilities of survival.
To focus on Lung Most cancers Consciousness Month, right here is the story of a person and his message that would save lives.
Invoice Castro smoked for 35 years however hasn't touched a cigarette because the 1990s. Nonetheless, when he was at a physician's appointment earlier this 12 months, his daughter insisted he have a lung scan.
“That's after they found a nodule in my proper lung,” Castro mentioned.
Dr. David Tom Cook dinner works at UC Davis Well being and mentioned a easy check can save lives.
“Seventy-five % of individuals identified with lung most cancers on this nation are identified at a complicated stage,” Dr. Cook dinner mentioned. “And solely 25% are identified within the early levels (stage 1 and stage 2), which is the one with the best likelihood of remedy.”
Throughout Lung Most cancers Consciousness Month, UC Davis has been providing free screenings for eligible sufferers. These are individuals between 50 and 80 years previous and individuals who have smoked 20 “pack years.” You could be questioning what that’s.
“So what you do is multiply the packs per day you smoked by the variety of years and that's the pack years,” Dr. Cook dinner mentioned. “So when you smoked two packs a day for 10 years, that's 20 pack-years.”
Castro begins remedy subsequent week and, at 91, appears to be like fairly good. Nonetheless, he doesn't need others to attend that lengthy to be examined.
“When you’ve got any doubt, even when you don't have any doubt, take steps to seek out out when you’ve got any most cancers after which let the docs determine the best way to eliminate it,” he mentioned.
UC Davis Well being will supply free scans on Saturday, November 9 to eligible sufferers.