Alexian Brothers Health System Introduces Lung Scans 

She began smoking when she was 14 years old. Now 39, she was thinking about quitting - and was concerned about how much she might have hurt her lungs by smoking for the last 25 years.

Her doctor referred her to Alexian Brothers Hospital Network's new Alexian Lung Scan program, which uses state-of-the art CT imaging technology to help detect lung cancer at an early stage when it is most treatable. The scan revealed a "highly suspicious" early stage lesion that was "small in size and potentially curable," says Ed Diamond, M.D., an ABHN pulmonologist and Director of ABHN's Respiratory Health Center of Excellence. The woman's decision to undergo the scan "could be life-saving," he says. She was among the first 100 people referred to ABHN for lung scans, which the network began offering in September 2005 as part of an overarching strategy to make the latest disease scanning technology available to residents of Chicago's northwest suburbs.

In addition to the lungscan program at the Alexian Medical Mall in Schaumburg, Ill., and the Immediate Care Center in Addison, Ill., ABHN also offers heart scans at the two sites and stroke screenings at churches, schools, retirement homes, senior centers, businesses and other locations. Growing numbers of people are taking advantage of these three programs, gaining valuable - and potentially lifesaving - insights into their health.

The lung-scan program is offering hope in the battle against lung cancer, a stealth killer usually identified only in its later stages because many people do not display symptoms earlier. Lung cancer kills more Americans than any other cancer, claiming the lives of more than 172,000 people each year. Most die within two years of being diagnosed because the disease often has progressed significantly. But five-year survival rates soar in cases where lung cancer is detected at an early stage. The Alexian Lung Scan detects the presence of tiny irregularities or nodules that are too small to be seen in a conventional X-ray. The lung scan, which takes 20 seconds, identifies these cancerous or pre-cancerous abnormalities with the lowest radiation dose possible.

Modeled after Cornell University's and Johns Hopkins Medical Center's national clinical trial programs, the lung-scan program combines advanced CT scanners with the R2 ImageChecker, a sophisticated image interpretation tool that can identify tiny lesions that are difficult to spot with the naked eye. ABHN is the first health-care provider in the Chicago area to offer the R2 ImageChecker technology. The lung scan is so sensitive that it also can identify abnormalities that an X-ray would not reveal and that turn out to be non-cancerous. Such findings can lead to additional tests and heightened anxiety for patients as they await test results. This uncertainty, coupled with the expense of lung scans, which cost $350 and are not covered by insurance, has led some health-care observers to criticize their use.

"It's a trade-off - and a fair point to make," says Diamond, adding that ABHN routinely tells patients that lung scans can reveal non-cancerous abnormalities. "A lot of people say that they understand and still want to have it done." Another aspect of the debate about lung scans is that early detection of lung cancer has not been proven to reduce mortality. For most other cancers, early detection has been shown to reduce mortality. However, several cost-benefit studies of lung scans are under way, and researchers anticipate that early detection of lung cancer should lead to improved survival rates.

Claudia Henschke, M.D., Ph.D., a radiologist at Cornell Medical Center in New York and a professor of radiology at Cornell's Weill Medical College, is a leading lung scan expert who has led extensive research into their efficacy. She has collected compelling evidence that they save lives, and she believes they should be made available to all potential lung cancer patients. She shared her findings with ABHN officials while the lung-scan program was in the planning stages, and her presentation "sealed the deal in our minds," Diamond says. "Alexian has taken the stance of being an early adopter of this technology because we believe in its efficacy, and we believe that patients will be found with cancer at an early stage when it can be cured," he says.

To qualify for a lung scan, a patient must be 40 or older and have a significant risk factor, such as smoking heavily for 10 years, significant exposure to second-hand smoke, significant exposure to asbestos or radon, or a significant family history of lung cancer. A patient also must have a doctor's order for a lung scan. ABHN is offering free lung scans to the first 100 people who complete the network's smoking cessation program.