Smokers who quit 15 years ago still at lung cancer risk

People who kicked the butt as long as 15 years ago are still at high risk for lung cancer and should be screened, warn researchers.The current lung cancer screening criteria set by the US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommends CT screening for adults between ages 55 and 80 who have smoked at least one pack a day for 30 years and are still smoking or have quit within 15 years.In a new study, lead author Ping Yang, epidemiologist at Mayo Clinic Cancer Centre, and colleagues found that two-thirds of patients with newly diagnosed lung cancer would not meet the current USPSTF screening criteria, suggesting a need to adjust the definition of patients at high risk.They found that compared to other risk categories, patients who quit smoking for 15 to 30 years accounted for the greatest percentage of patients with lung cancer who didn't qualify for screening."We were surprised to find that the incidence of lung cancer was proportionally higher in this subgroup, compared to other subgroups of former cigarette smokers," Yang noted.