Health · Medical Research · 2 hrs ago
Lung cancer screening misses many people at risk
Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths worldwide, yet screening remains uncommon.
Only 20% of people eligible for screening are assessed, and official guidelines may not identify everyone at risk.
Juliet DuBois, who had never smoked, learned she had lung cancer after a scan following hip surgery revealed a small mass.
Her case shows that people who have never smoked can still develop lung cancer.
Albertha “Bertie” Gethers smoked a few cigarettes a day for decades, but did not meet the usual screening threshold of 20 pack-years, so Medicare would not cover screening and no doctor suggested it.
In 2024, a Boston research program offered free scans to Black women aged 50 to 80, and scans found cancerous lung lesions in Gethers, which were removed; she recovered well.
Lung cancer screening reaches only 20% of people eligible for it, while official guidelines often fail to identify people at risk.
The disease is the leading cause of cancer cases and deaths worldwide, according to the World Health Organization.
Juliet DuBois, who had never smoked, learned she had lung cancer after a scan revealed a mass following hip replacement surgery.
Albertha “Bertie” Gethers did not meet official screening criteria because she had smoked only a few cigarettes a day.
A research program in Boston offered free CT scans to Black women aged 50 to 80.
- Who
- People at risk of lung cancer, including never-smokers and people who do not meet screening criteria.
- What
- Screening guidelines often miss people at risk, and only 20% of eligible people are screened.
- When
- The article was published on October 14, 2026. Gethers found a screening program in 2024.
- Where
- The examples include Boston and Mattapan, Massachusetts.
- Why
- Persistent myths and screening criteria that do not identify everyone at risk contribute to missed screening.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
At age 46, Juliet DuBois had hip replacement surgery.
A blood test raised concern about a possible clot, and a CT scan revealed a 1-centimeter lung mass.
DuBois underwent four rounds of chemotherapy and later had no evidence of disease.
A friend told Albertha Gethers about a Boston research program offering free CT scans to Black women aged 50 to 80.
- Eligible people screened
- 20%
- DuBois’s age at hip replacement
- 46
- Mass found in DuBois’s lung
- 1 centimeter
- Gethers’s smoking history
- A few cigarettes a day for 56 years
- Boston program eligibility
- Black women aged 50 to 80
What people are saying
If I hadn’t had a hip replacement and then been more careful, I would never have found out
I just wonder, if someone had recommended it, whether I would have done it
We thought it was cute