A study by Vanderbilt researchers that analyzed both smoking history and genetic risk variants for lung cancer supports modifying current guidelines to include additional smokers for lung cancer screening.
The study, published Feb. 26 in Carcinogenesis, also suggests that genetic risks identified in genome-wide association studies (GWAS) could be considered to further identify which smokers should undergo lung screens at an earlier age.
The analysis supports the recent recommendation by the U.S. Preventive Services Task to lower the screening age from 55 to 50 and to reduce the number of smoking history pack years from 30 to 20. The recommendation is partially based on a study by Vanderbilt researchers published in JAMA Oncology that revealed a striking racial disparity for eligibility under the existing guidelines — among smokers diagnosed with lung cancer, only 32% of African Americans versus 56% of whites were eligible for screening.