Lung Cancer Risk Assessment Tool

In the U.S.

Do you think you might be at risk for lung cancer? Are you wondering whether to get screened?

Our doctors have developed a lung cancer risk assessment tool that can be used to calculate your risk for developing the disease. The tool will ask you questions about your age, gender, smoking history, and exposure to asbestos, and will use that information to predict the likelihood that you’ll develop lung cancer in the next ten years.

We created this tool to help people make decisions about their healthcare, including whether to get screened for lung cancer. We recommend you use the tool in collaboration with your doctor.

Who Can Use This Tool?

We designed this decision tool for people who are current or former smokers. It works only for people like those listed below whose risk is high enough to accurately predict.

You currently smoke or have quit within the past 15 years AND
You are between the ages of 50 and 80 years old AND
You smoke or smoked on average one pack of cigarettes per day for at least 20 years, or the equivalent – for example, two packs a day for ten years

Why Is This Tool Useful?

It helps doctors and patients determine the chance that screening will be beneficial. Research shows that whether a current or former smoker will benefit from lung cancer screening depends on that person’s individual risk of developing the disease.

Our researchers worked with the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle to develop and test this tool, which is based on data from the Carotene and Retinol Efficacy Trial (CARET), a large, randomized trial of lung cancer prevention methods.