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Smoking and history of smoking are the critical factors. It seems clear from these reviews that careful consideration of the risks of screening tests and their results should be understood by those contemplating such tests. These risks include undesirable consequences of false positives, such as finding noncancerous abnormalities that lead to invasive tests, unnecessary surgeries, and anxiety for those screened and their families. These false positives can require follow-up CT scans and tests for small abnormalities that don’t call for immediate testing. In addition, radiation exposures during the testing process may be significant, and the lung is an organ which is susceptible to radiation-induced cancer.
Ongoing efforts to reach physicians with appropriate information are an important initiative which needs to be sustained. A video available at
http://now.uiowa.edu/2012/06/new-video-urges-physicians-learn-about-relay-radon-risks shows the right message for both physician and patient: it is a good place to start.
Unfortunately, there are no known methods of reducing the toxic effects of radon once exposure has occurred. We cannot change past exposures, regardless of their source, so worrying about them is generally unproductive. The goal is to reduce current and future radiation exposures to as low as reasonably achievable (ALARA). While the science of radon risk and estimates of risk increase, based on studies of large groups of people, are well founded, predicting an individual’s chances of developing lung cancer is not a simple process. Known and unknown exposures of short and long duration, and other radiation exposures and individual lung risk factors add to the difficulty of responding to those who are concerned.
It is clear that smoking cessation and prevention are the best steps to reduce the risk of lung cancer in general and even of radon-related lung cancer in particular. It is also well established that testing and fixing existing structures and building radon-resistant new construction are the next-most effective measures. People who have tested their homes to determine their exposures are to be commended for doing so and are encouraged to take the appropriate steps to reduce future exposures.
Information on lung cancer symptoms, diagnostic processes, screening and associated risks are available at the following links to assist those seeking help in these areas:
http://www.nationallungcancerpartnership.org/lung-cancer-info/lung-cancer-facts/screening-faqs
http://www.lung.org/lung-disease/lung-cancer/lung-cancer-screening-guidelines/lung-cancer-one-pager.pdf
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/lung-ct-scan/CA00086
http://www.cancer.org/cancer/news/lung-cancer-screening-guideline-frequently-asked-questions
http://www.cancer.org/cancer/lungcancer-non-smallcell/detailedguide/non-small-cell-lung-cancer-detection
http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/csem/radon/radon.pdf
http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxprofiles/tp145.pdf
The following referrals include recognized sources of medical science that may also be helpful:
American Lung Association
American Society of Clinical Oncology
American Cancer Society
American College of Chest Physicians National Comprehensive Cancer Network
American Thoracic Society
This document was drafted at Kansas State University with review and input from numerous resources in the radon community. We welcome any input on this important topic to improve the information available to the public about radon risks.
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