Key points from today’s guests:

Scott Carr, lung cancer survivor

• Scott learned he had lung cancer after getting a low-dose CT scan.
• He had a long history of smoking, starting when he was in college.
• A nodule was removed that tested positive for stage one lung cancer.
• He undergoes scans every three to six months. If they continue to stay negative, the tests may spread out to yearly exams.
• He feels better now and is glad he had the screening.
• Scott cautions people not to make lifelong habits of something like smoking that can negatively impact your health.
• He is proud that he finally stopped smoking and was able to get screened early.

Dr. Jordan Wilkerson, thoracic surgeon, The University of Kansas Health System

• Lung cancer is by far the leading cause of cancer deaths in the United States. In the U.S. on average someone dies from lung cancer every four minutes.
• An estimated 85 percent of all lung cancers are caused by smoking, although it's still possible for non-smokers to get lung cancer.
• Sometimes, lung nodules are found. A lung nodule is simply just any abnormal growth or spot on imaging like a chest X ray or a CT scan, and the vast majority of these are actually non-cancerous – more than 90 percent are actually benign. But there are some that we do worry about and that we want to watch.
• In Scott’s case, he had a 2.1-centimeter nodule. It was within the left upper lobes on his left lung. We actually took it out in the final pathology report confirmed that this was a stage one lung cancer.
• Stopping smoking at any point is the best thing to do to reduce your risk in the future.
• If you or anyone you love meets the criteria to undergo screening, it's definitely worthwhile to do, because we want to catch these things early -- before you develop symptoms -- when they're still treatable.
• As part of National Lung Cancer Screening Day on Saturday, November 9, screenings can be scheduled at the Indian Creek location in Overland Park by calling 913-588-5864 (LUNG).
• Screening criteria includes:
  • Age 50-80
  • Current smoker or has quit within the past 15 years
  • 20 “pack-year” smoking history (1 pack daily for 20 years)

Tuesday, Oct. 22 at 8 a.m. is the next Morning Medical Update. Two sisters had a breast cancer diagnosis just days apart. Hear how the different types of breast cancer changed each sister's treatment plan.

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