Risk-Adapted Lung Cancer Screening Starting Ages for Former Smokers

Considering their risk compared with current smokers, when should former smokers begin lung cancer screening?In this cohort study of 86 035 former or current heavy smokers, former heavy smokers could be screened between 3 and 17 years later than current heavy smokers, depending on the length of smoking cessation, in order to more closely reflect their risk levels. Whereas the US Preventive Services Task Force currently recommends a unified starting age of 50 years, the derived risk-adapted screening start ages for former heavy smokers ranged between 53 and 67 years of age.This study’s findings suggest that using differentiated, risk-adapted starting ages of former smokers could allow for enhanced lung cancer screening strategies.

Corresponding Author: Hermann Brenner, MD, Professor, German Cancer Research Center, Im Neuenheimer Feld 280, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany (h.brenner@dkfz-heidelberg.de).

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