The BHS Lung Cancer Screening Program, named a Lung Cancer Screening Center of Excellence, is detecting lung cancer early among smokers and saving lives.
"It can literally be a matter of life and death," said Christian Galvez, MD, a thoracic and general surgeon at Berkshire Medical Center. "There is only one proven way of improving your chance of surviving lung cancer, and that's early detection through low-dose CT screening."
Lung cancer remains the leading cause of cancer deaths. In 2017, the American Cancer Society estimated that 222,500 people in the U.S. would be diagnosed with lung cancer, with 155,870 victims dying of the disease. If detected early, patients can have up to an 88% survival rate 10 years following diagnosis.
Unfortunately, the vast majority of lung cancer cases are detected too late for effective treatment. This is why primary care physicians in our community and everywhere are urging their at-risk patients - particularly those with long smoking histories - to get screened annually.
Please visit the links to the left for more details about this life-saving test, and the committed caregivers at BHS who are determined to provide members of our community with the best chance possible to beat cancer.
For more information about this program, please call 413-447-2846.
© 2019 Berkshire Health Systems
725 North Street
Pittsfield, MA 01201