Lung cancer can grow silently for years, heres who qualifies for screening

Cancer can strike at any age, often without symptoms. For many cancers, routine screening remains the best way to detect the disease early and reduce the risk of death.

For lung cancer, screening guidelines can vary, as the disease doesnt always show obvious signals and can occur in both smokers and .

Daniel J. Boffa, M.D., chair of the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer and a thoracic surgeon at Yale University, noted that lung cancer screening is "one of the most powerful ways" to boost survival.

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"It reduces the chance of people dying of by 20%," he told Fox News Digital.

The share of Americans who are eligible for screening but dont comply translates to "tens of thousands of preventable deaths every year," according to Boffa.

"I'm hoping that within four or five years, a screening CT scan will only be confirmatory after they have a positive blood test done at your doctor's office," he added.

That approach could make screening easier and potentially help detect more lung cancers, according to the doctor.

In a recent interview with Fox News Digital, Lary Robinson, M.D., an oncologist at Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Florida, noted that in most cases, early-stage lung cancer will not come with any symptoms.

In those who do have symptoms, however, the most common are related to the lungs, including a persistent cough, shortness of breath or coughing up blood.

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Unexplained weight loss can result from any form of cancer, according to the oncologist. , like persistent headaches, may also warrant seeing a doctor.

Current lung cancer screening guidelines recommend an annual low-dose CT scan for people between the ages of 50 and 80 who currently smoke or have a history of smoking or have at least a 20 pack-year history of smoking, according to the American Cancer Society (ACS).

Before making the decision to get screened, individuals should speak with their healthcare providers about the purpose of the screening and how its done, as well as the benefits, limits and possible harms, ACS advised.

Those who still smoke should be counseled about quitting and offered interventions and resources to help.

Individuals with serious health problems that will "likely limit" their lifespan should not be screened, according to ACS, as well as those who wont be able to if lung cancer is detected.

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Although one out of seven lung cancers will affect someone who has never smoked, there is currently not a set screening guideline for never-smokers.

Finding individuals who would benefit from screening is an "intense area of research," according to Boffa. For now, people with a direct family history of lung cancer without smoking should consider annual screenings, as should higher-risk demographics like .

"I would anticipate that in the next year or two, we will have better guidance for people who are at risk for lung cancer, but never smoked," Boffa predicted.

Boffa noted that advances in lung cancer treatment have improved