Lung cancer can be deadly. “Lung cancer, according to the American Cancer Society has a higher death rate than any other cancer. More than breast prostate and colorectal combined,” said Lee Health Nurse Practitioner Bobbi Marino. The other problem is that many people don’t go to the doctor until they notice symptoms. “Extreme shortness of breath, coughing up blood, incredible amount of weight loss in a short amount of time, loss of appetite increased fatigue.”

By that point, it’s already in late stage. That’s why Marino started the Lung Cancer screening program. “The patients in lung cancer screening who get a diagnosis of lung cancer in screening, about 70% of the time it’s early stage, and out of those patients the cure rate is about 80%.”

People who would be good for the screening are, “50 to 77 years old, current or former smokers quitting within 15 years with at least a 20 pack your history, without symptoms of lung cancer,” said Marino. The screening consists of an evaluation and a low dose Cat scan. “It’s painless, there’s no IV contrast, it’s less than 10 minutes in and out and we can get the results quickly.”

Many times the screening is covered by insurance. They’ll look for suspicious nodules. If found early, the ideal treatment is to cut them out. Contact the Lee Health regional cancer center for your screening.




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Lee Health in Fort Myers, FL is the largest network of health care facilities in Southwest Florida and is highly respected for its expertise, innovation and quality of care. For more than 100 years, we’ve been providing our community with personalized preventative health services and primary care to highly specialized care services and robotic assisted surgeries. Lee Health - Caring People. Inspiring Care.


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