Health panel may open lung cancer screening to more smokers

A U.S. health panel wants to widen the number of current and former smokers offered yearly scans for lung cancer. That screening isn’t for everyone: Today it’s recommended for some of the heaviest smokers, those who’ve smoked the equivalent of a pack a day for 30 years. The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force is proposing changing the criteria so people who’ve smoked 20 pack-years would qualify. Research shows the scans can lower the risk of death. But the screening comes