UMMC offers screenings to detect early stage lung cancer

Published on Monday, November 4, 2024

By: Jewell Davis, jdavis25@umc.edu

Photos By: Melanie Thortis/ UMMC Communications

Patrick Harrington of Quitman began smoking regularly at the age of 13. At 62, he advocates for cancer awareness and smoking cessation following his own health experiences and free lung cancer screening.

Last year, Harrington heard discussions about the screenings at the UMMC Cancer Center and Research Institute through the media. Inspired, he decided to schedule a screening, which took place just weeks later.

Harrington recalled his experience. “You get a low-dose CT scan, which only takes a few minutes. Afterwards, Dr. (Jonathan) Hontzas walked me through the scans and did not see anything indicating early cancer,” he said. “I received a good screening.”

Hontzas, assistant professor in the School of Population Health and director of the ACT Center and Lung Cancer Screening Program at UMMC, stressed the urgent need for increased screening and smoking cessation efforts.

“Lung cancer results in more deaths than prostate, colon and breast cancer combined, with Mississippi having among the highest incidence and mortality rates,” Hontzas said. “Low-dose CT is the only proven lung cancer screening tool, which can reduce mortality by at least 20%. However, with screening rates below 10% in Mississippi, we must do better.”

Lung cancer remains the leading cause of cancer deaths in the United States, impacting both men and women. The National Cancer Institute estimates that approximately 234,580 new cases of lung or bronchus cancer will be diagnosed in 2024, with more than half of those patients expected to be diagnosed with the disease within a year. In Mississippi, the early diagnosis rate is only 26.4%, underscoring the urgent need for increased awareness and prevention initiatives.

Recognizing the importance of taking action for his health, Harrington took several proactive steps. After his screening, he learned that CCRI offers a quit smoking clinic and is also organizing a free lung cancer screening event on Nov. 9 which aligns with National Lung Cancer Screening Day. This nationwide effort aims to improve accessibility and ensure that more individuals can participate, particularly those who may have difficulty taking time off during the workweek. The program emphasizes the critical importance of early detection using low-dose CT scans, the only recommended screening test for lung cancer.

Motivated by this information, Harrington signed up for both the clinic and screening event. “They called me to ask if I wanted to participate again, and I said sure. I’ve been smoking for almost 50 years, and since my mid-twenties, I’ve been trying to quit. This past February, I managed to stop for two months,” he said. “I encourage anyone who wants to quit (smoking) to keep trying. Sometimes you have to take a pause to regain your resolve. I wouldn’t stop trying and I would definitely recommend getting a lung cancer screening.”

Dr. Pierre De Delva, UMMC division chief of general thoracic surgery and chair of the Mississippi Lung Cancer Roundtable, emphasized the urgency of addressing lung cancer's devastating impact. “Lung cancer takes more lives than any other cancer. It does not have to be that way,” said De Delva.

“We now know how to prevent and treat this terrible disease: decrease tobacco use through prevention, enhance lung cancer screening to help detect disease while curable, and provide access to newly discovered personalized therapies that can treat advanced disease.” he added.

Building on this progress, CCRI recently received a QUILS (Quality Implementation of Lung Cancer Screening) grant. This initiative will provide nearly $1.8 million over four years to improve lung cancer screening rates in Mississippi, which was one of only two states selected for the grant due to its low screening rates, high incidence and mortality rates.

Registration is now open for the free lung cancer screening event on Saturday, Nov. 9 for qualifying uninsured and underinsured participants. Screenings will take place from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the CCRI located in the Jackson Medical Mall. Appointments are required for this screening event. To determine eligibility and schedule an appointment, please call 601-984-LUNG (5864) and select option 1.