Resportary health associated encourage early screening awareness

In support of World Lung Cancer Day on August 1, the Forum of International Respiratory Societies (FIRS), of which the Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA) is a founding member, stresses the importance of early screening awareness and access to diagnose and treat lung cancer.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), lung cancer kills more people yearly than breast, colon, and prostate cancers combined, and there are 2.1 million lung cancer cases worldwide.

The risk of death can be drastically reduced through early detection of cancer and appropriate treatment. 

To identify and diagnose lung cancer in its earlier stages, it is recommended to seek lung cancer screening with a low-dose computed tomography (also known as low-dose CT or LDCT).

If the individual is currently smoking or formerly smoked, lung cancer screening is recommended.

Individuals who meet the below criteria are considered to be at “high risk” for developing lung cancer and should be screened: 

It’s also beneficial to recognize the signs of lung cancer that may be a sign to seek screening.

The most common symptoms of lung cancer are:

• cough that does not go away
• chest pain
• shortness of breath
• coughing up blood (hemoptysis)
• fatigue
• weight loss with no known cause
• lung infections that keep coming back.