Cologne Clinic Merheim starts lung cancer screening: prevent now!

Cologne Clinic Merheim starts lung cancer screening: prevent now!

Krankenhaus Merheim, Köln, Deutschland - In Cologne there are fresh news from the area of lung health. The Merheim Hospital now offers an innovative lung cancer screening, which is particularly intended for people aged 50 to 75 with a long smoking story. Beate Brings, the head of the Rhenish tumor center of the Cologne Clinics and herself long -time smoker, is the first test subject of screening. The 61-year-old smokes since she was 14 and has reduced it to about seven to eight cigarettes a day. The first check-up brought pleasing news-your CT examination showed no abnormalities.

The managing director of the Cologne City of Cologne, Axel Goßmann, underlines the urgency of early detection measures: "Early detection and timely treatment of lung cancer significantly increase the survival rate." Statistics that illustrate this: lung cancer is one of the most common causes of cancer in Germany. According to current figures, around 57,000 people develop lung cancer annually, with strong smoking is responsible for 80 to 90 percent of the cases. Acibadem Healthpoint reports that 22,590 men were already diagnosed in 2020.

The details of the screening

The screening itself takes place using a low-dose computer tomography and is said to be available as a cash benefit from April 2026. The Joint Committee (G-BA) decided to increase the chances of survival in lung cancer. Strong smokers who have smoked a pack of cigarettes a day for at least 25 years are eligible to participate. The screening is repeated annually and attaches great importance to quality assurance to avoid incorrect results.

The team around chief physician Wolfram Windisch knows that quitting smoking is the best prevention against lung cancer. His colleague Stéphane Clollaud, who heads the study, has the goal of supporting smokers to get rid of the cigarette. In the Merheim lung clinic, it is already working hard to optimize the screening, which is funded by the Britta and Peter Wurm Foundation.

smoking and its consequences

According to the current statistics, the numbers are alarming: In 2020, the numbers are alarming: 2020 was 17,066 women and 27,751 men. This shows how important preventive measures are. Experts assume that the incidence in women could continue to rise by 2030 while it remains stable or slightly decreases in men. The challenges in early detection, such as high costs and lack of sensitivity of conventional methods, make it clear that new approaches such as screening are urgently needed.