Editor, Gazette-Journal:

Many Virginia residents may be unaware that lung cancer is the leading cancer killer of men and women in the U.S., accounting for about one in four cancer deaths. It’s estimated that in 2018 alone, there will be more than 5,860 people in Virginia diagnosed with lung cancer and 3,780 will succumb to the deadly disease. One of the reasons that lung cancer is so deadly is that it is often diagnosed in later stages, after the disease has already spread.

Lung cancer screening is a new method of early detection that is a powerful tool to save lives. Too many patients have been diagnosed with lung cancer at a later stage. That’s what makes this newly available screening such a game changer—if we can catch the disease earlier, we can save lives.

No one deserves lung cancer, and awareness about lung cancer and the availability of screening for those at high risk can help catch the disease in the early stages, when survival rates are significantly hi...