Tampa's Moffitt Cancer Center has begun a study linked to new federal recommendations for long-time smokers.
The Center will see whether images from CT scans alone, and with other risk factors, can predict the risk of a patient developing lung cancer.
CT scans are one of the first methods of screening that have been shown to reduce death rates and lead to early detection among high-risk patients.
The ultimate goal is to reduce the number of false positive findings from CT scans.
The study hopes to include 200 patients each year.
To qualify, patients must between 55 to 80 years old, have a history of cigarette smoking of at least 30 pack-years, or are former smokers who have quit within the past 15 years.
A 30 pack-year indicates the person smoked a pack of cigarettes a day for 30 years, two packs per day for 15 years, etc.
Recently, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommended low-dose CT scans annually for older smokers.
This applies to people 55 to 79 who have at least a 30 pack-year history of smoking.
Lung cancer is by far the leading cause of cancer death in the United States, and about 85 percent of lung cancers are caused by smoking.
The risk of lung cancer increases with age.
Researches have shown that annual screening with low-dose CT scan helps detect lung cancer earlier when - a chance of cure is higher.
Like every test, the screening test can give a false positive reading that suggests a person has lung cancer when no cancer is present.