For smokers and former smokers, the threat of lung cancer always lurks in the shadows.

To flush it out of the darkness, some decide to get their lungs scanned by a CT machine, which can find a tumor early enough to stop it - or set off a false alarm that turns out to be nothing.

Others may avoid the scans, or don't know they should have one, even though they are the type of person who has the most to gain from screening, according to official recommendations in effect for the last five years.

Members of Beaumont Health’s proton therapy team presented research on a new treatment for patients with lung cancer at the recent European Society for Radiotherapy and Oncology (ESTRO) 37 Congress, April 20-24 in Barcelona, Spain.

An updated American Cancer Society guideline says colorectal cancer screening should begin at age 45 for people at average risk. The recommendation is based in part on data showing rates of colorectal cancer are increasing in young and middle-aged populations.

A team of researchers including investigators from Mayo Clinic has identified a technology to address the problem of false positives in computed tomography (CT)-based lung cancer screening. The team’s findings are published in the current issue of PLOS One.