By Annette Pinder

Lung cancer screening can save lives by detecting tumors when they are small and more treatable. Yet roughly one in five Americans who are currently eligible for screening actually receive it—and many people who develop lung cancer don’t qualify for screening at all. The issue recently gained attention following Pope Leo XIV’s diagnosis of lung adenocarcinoma. Pope Leo appears to be a never-smoker, highlighting a growing concern: Lung cancer does not occur only in smokers. 

Current U.S. Preventive Services Task Force guidelines recommend annual low-dose CT screening for adults ages 50 to 80 with at least a 20 pack-year smoking history who currently smoke or quit within the past 15 years. Studies have shown that screening high-risk individuals can reduce lung cancer deaths. But according to a New York Times report in October, about half, and possibly more, Americans who develop lung cancer do not meet current screening criteria. An estimated one in seven U.S. lung cancer patients has never smoked.

Researchers are now trying to determine how to identify nonsmokers and others who might benefit from screening without subjecting millions of low-risk people to unnecessary radiation, false-positive results, additional testing, and anxiety. Potential risk factors under study include family history, genetics, secondhand smoke exposure, sex, and ethnicity. Scientists are also investigating blood proteins, genetic mutations, and artificial intelligence to help predict an individual’s future lung cancer risk.

For now, people who meet current screening criteria should talk with their health care provider about low-dose CT screening. The bigger question researchers hope to answer is whether screening can be more personalized—identifying more people at meaningful risk while avoiding unnecessary testing.

Source: The New York Times, Oct. 14, 2026; U.S. Preventive Services Task Force.