All too often, lung cancer is diagnosed too late, when it is difficult to treat. The overall five-year survival rate is just 20.5%. But SMH lung cancer specialists are helping people beat those odds with an aggressive detection program catching early-stage lung cancer at double the rate achieved in most health systems across the nation. SMH lung cancer screenings have nearly doubled since SMH expanded its detection program in 2019 and introduced Eon’s AI software. Patients whose “incidental” findings indicate they have a potentially “high risk” nodule are urged to begin annual low-dose CT (computed tomography) screenings for lung cancer, said Amie Miller, ARNP, coordinator of SMH’s lung cancer screening program. “Catching lung cancer early greatly increases the patient’s chances that it can be treated and even cured,” Miller said. “And if we can diagnose lung cancer at the earliest stages, it’s going to make a huge impact.”