“Lung cancer is the biggest cause of cancer deaths in this country,” Bharat said. “It kills more people than breast, colon and prostate put together.”

“A majority of the lung cancer patients in this country would not meet the screening criteria as it exists currently,”

• Jessie Creel’s cough started in May last year.
• At the time, a primary care physician diagnosed the mother of three with pneumonia. But the antibiotics didn’t work and her cough persisted. During a camping trip in the summer, she coughed up blood. She kept losing weight. She wasn’t able to sleep.
• Six months later, Creel, then 42, was diagnosed with Stage 4 lung cancer. She was active, a runner and a swimmer, didn’t drink, and had never even held a cigarette...

Under current recommendations, people are eligible for screening if they are 50 to 80 years old and have a history of heavy smoking, either actively or in the past 15 years...