Allegheny Health Network pilot program screens lung cancer risk through blood test

ROSTRAVER TOWNSHIP, Pa. — Cancer is a disease that has touched most families in some capacity. The one that kills the most people annually is lung cancer. The reason why is most people don’t get screened until it’s too late.

For Mary Knight, smoking has become a part of her everyday life.

“I didn’t smoke a lot at first, I would only smoke at work, but that was like 30 years ago,” Knight said.

Now she’s up to half a pack a day and a prime candidate for lung cancer.

“During that time have you had concerns about lung cancer?” Channel 11′s Nicole Ford asked Knight.

“Well yea because I have two aunts that died from it and one that had mesothelioma,” Knight said.

But before this year, she’d never been screened for the disease.

“I was supposed to do the CAT scan, but I never got around to scheduling it then you had to take off work to do it,” Knight said.

That’s the issue when it comes to lung cancer screenings — most times people get screened when it’s too late, making it the number one cancer killer.

“The five-year survival rate for lung cancer is probably about 10 % if it’s detected late, could be up to 23% but still a significant mortality so the earlier we screen the better,” said Dr. James Solava with Allegheny Health Network.

Now it’s even easier. Allegheny Health Network is part of a two-year pilot program where a blood test is taken right in the office. The results tell the patient if their DNA has a higher risk for cancer therefore a scan needs to be done.

“Most lung cancer occurs in smokers and lung cancer is still the number one cancer killer in men and women,” Solava said.

After all the years of not getting tested, Knight immediately got signed up.

“‘Let’s do it,’ that was my first thought because I wanted to do the CAT scan, but I never got around to scheduling it and this was so simple. Like, all I got to do is give you blood? Okay,” Knight said.

You do have to meet the criteria to get the test as it is a pilot study. You must be between the ages of 50 to 80 years old and a current or former smoker with a 20-year pack history.

“The hope is the more people we screen, the more lives we save,” Solava said.

For now, Knight’s test was negative, and she hopes it continues that way year after year.

If you want to see if you qualify, talk to your primary care doctor.

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