Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) Medical Center has been selected as a Lung Cancer Screening Center by the American College of Radiology (ACR), a designation given to facilities that have committed to practice safe and effective diagnostic care for individuals at the highest risk for lung cancer.
The ACR is one of the largest medical associations in the country working to make imaging and radiation therapy safe, effective and accessible to those who need it.
To receive this type of distinction, a facility must be accredited by the ACR in computed tomography in the chest module and needs to be strictly evaluated in its lung cancer screening protocols and infrastructures. Furthermore, established procedures for follow-up patient care, including counseling and smoking cessation programs, need to be well established.
“The ACR Lung Cancer Screening Center designation is a further testament to our highly specialized team’s unwavering commitment to provide the highest level of medical and radiologic expertise in the screening, early detection and management of lung cancer. We are extremely pleased the ACR has recognized our program for our efforts thus far and we look forward to 
further opportunities to positively impact the lives of those current or former cigarette smokers in need of or desiring early screening for lung cancer with low-dose CT,” Mark Parker, M.D., chief of thoracic imaging in the VCU Medical Center’s Department of Radiology said in a VCU Medical Center press release.
VCU Medical Center screening program was the first major multidisciplinary team approach directed towards the screening and early diagnosis of lung cancer in high-risk individuals, serving as a model for the subsequent screening centers implemented across the country.
Early detection of lung cancer with low-dose computed tomography (CT) scans followed by appropriate care can significantly reduce the mortality rate associated with this disease. Furthermore, combining CT scans with more advanced early detection techniques such as Electromagnetic Navigation Bronchoscopy and Confocal Endomicroscopy can further enhance the probabilities of lung cancer detection and diagnostic in a single procedure, as recently reported by Lung Cancer News Today.
According to the United States Preventive Services Task Force, individuals aged 55 to 80 years who have a 30 pack-per-year smoking history and currently smoke or have quit within the past 15 years should be regularly screened for lung cancer, currently the biggest cancer killer in the U.S., accounting for more annual deaths than breast, colon and prostate cancers combined.
