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American Morning
Paging Dr. Gupta: Cancer Screening Test Doubles Rate of Those Who Quit Smoking
Aired October 27, 2003 - 09:45 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Well if a new study is any indication, smokers are getting the message about cigarettes. A lung cancer screening idea seems to improve their chances of kicking the habit.
Medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta joining us once again from CNN Center in Atlanta. Sanjay, good to have you back. Tell us a little bit about these I guess you call them dramatic pictures of your insides.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: It's sort of interesting. The Spiral CT scans are certainly something that's becoming more and more popular. That's because they're pretty sensitive at picking up tumors.
But what's sort of interesting about this study is that the actual scan actually had a sort of secondary benefit, if you will, in terms of trying to get people to stop smoking.
What they found simply was that people who actually got these scans, 14 percent of those people went on to quit smoking after the CAT scan, 5 percent to 7 percent, that's compared to that, of the average quitting rate.
Now the CT Scan itself, and there are some pretty impressive pictures of these CT Scans because these are these Spiral CT Scans, can give you these really enhanced detailed images of your lungs, picking up tumors that are even smaller than a centimeter in size.
But the ACS, that's the American Cancer Society, has not endorsed these yet because they've not been proven to show any significant improvement in life span. Perhaps quality of life, but not life span. They're not sure if this is ready for prime time.
Again, Miles, this was sort of interesting because sort of the secondary benefit derived from this in terms of doubling the rate almost, still small rate but doubling the rate in terms of getting people to stop, which is important, obviously.
O'BRIEN: I don't think we have a really good sense of what these pictures show a patient or a doctor. Does it make your lungs look like they're paved over by asphalt or something?
GUPTA: Well, possibly. Basically what it shows, these Spiral CT Scans take these pictures around your entire body and they essentially create these 3-D models to basically show very small tumors within the lungs. They can also be used for the intestines.
I actually had one done for my heart as a screening test, as well. They can look for little blockages, calcium deposits in your heart arteries as well, things like that.
But, again, these tests are important because you can develop these very sophisticated tests. But the real question is what is the outcome? Is it actually going to lead to lives saved or not? And if not, is it worth the very expensive cost sometimes of these scans?
But the story here, again, was sort of this interesting thing. I kind of appreciate stories like this because you look for these secondary benefits, perhaps, of actually taking someone, getting them screened. Does that somehow make them think more about their health and possibly lead them to be more likely to quit smoking? Well it turns out that in this case perhaps it did, at about double the rate.
O'BRIEN: Or it's possible that people that people that would kind of endure this test anyway would be more predisposed to quit.
GUPTA: Yes.
O'BRIEN: It's kind of hard to separate the two, isn't it?
GUPTA: I think you're absolutely right. Are these people sort of a self-selected group who are already focused on their health, things like that? Perhaps.
But here's an interesting number for you, as well. Sixty percent of people after they're diagnosed with cancer still keep smoking. So it's a very strong hold. Anything to help will help.
O'BRIEN: Oh boy. Wow. OK. And just quickly, if you want to get one of these tests you've got to pay for it out of pocket, don't you?
GUPTA: For now. Until this gets endorsed by the American Cancer Society, it's self-pay for now for the most part.
O'BRIEN: All right, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, thanks very much.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Those Who Quit Smoking>
Aired October 27, 2003 - 09:45 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Well if a new study is any indication, smokers are getting the message about cigarettes. A lung cancer screening idea seems to improve their chances of kicking the habit.
Medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta joining us once again from CNN Center in Atlanta. Sanjay, good to have you back. Tell us a little bit about these I guess you call them dramatic pictures of your insides.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: It's sort of interesting. The Spiral CT scans are certainly something that's becoming more and more popular. That's because they're pretty sensitive at picking up tumors.
But what's sort of interesting about this study is that the actual scan actually had a sort of secondary benefit, if you will, in terms of trying to get people to stop smoking.
What they found simply was that people who actually got these scans, 14 percent of those people went on to quit smoking after the CAT scan, 5 percent to 7 percent, that's compared to that, of the average quitting rate.
Now the CT Scan itself, and there are some pretty impressive pictures of these CT Scans because these are these Spiral CT Scans, can give you these really enhanced detailed images of your lungs, picking up tumors that are even smaller than a centimeter in size.
But the ACS, that's the American Cancer Society, has not endorsed these yet because they've not been proven to show any significant improvement in life span. Perhaps quality of life, but not life span. They're not sure if this is ready for prime time.
Again, Miles, this was sort of interesting because sort of the secondary benefit derived from this in terms of doubling the rate almost, still small rate but doubling the rate in terms of getting people to stop, which is important, obviously.
O'BRIEN: I don't think we have a really good sense of what these pictures show a patient or a doctor. Does it make your lungs look like they're paved over by asphalt or something?
GUPTA: Well, possibly. Basically what it shows, these Spiral CT Scans take these pictures around your entire body and they essentially create these 3-D models to basically show very small tumors within the lungs. They can also be used for the intestines.
I actually had one done for my heart as a screening test, as well. They can look for little blockages, calcium deposits in your heart arteries as well, things like that.
But, again, these tests are important because you can develop these very sophisticated tests. But the real question is what is the outcome? Is it actually going to lead to lives saved or not? And if not, is it worth the very expensive cost sometimes of these scans?
But the story here, again, was sort of this interesting thing. I kind of appreciate stories like this because you look for these secondary benefits, perhaps, of actually taking someone, getting them screened. Does that somehow make them think more about their health and possibly lead them to be more likely to quit smoking? Well it turns out that in this case perhaps it did, at about double the rate.
O'BRIEN: Or it's possible that people that people that would kind of endure this test anyway would be more predisposed to quit.
GUPTA: Yes.
O'BRIEN: It's kind of hard to separate the two, isn't it?
GUPTA: I think you're absolutely right. Are these people sort of a self-selected group who are already focused on their health, things like that? Perhaps.
But here's an interesting number for you, as well. Sixty percent of people after they're diagnosed with cancer still keep smoking. So it's a very strong hold. Anything to help will help.
O'BRIEN: Oh boy. Wow. OK. And just quickly, if you want to get one of these tests you've got to pay for it out of pocket, don't you?
GUPTA: For now. Until this gets endorsed by the American Cancer Society, it's self-pay for now for the most part.
O'BRIEN: All right, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, thanks very much.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Those Who Quit Smoking>
