Patient says, ‘lung screening saved my life’

A non-invasive screening is now recommended for those at risk for leading cause of cancer death.

By TJ Banes, IU Health Senior Journalist, tfender1@iuhealth.org

Pat Wilkins regularly schedules her mammogram, dental checkups, colonoscopy, heart scan, and dermatology appointments. So, when her sister suggested she also have a lung screening, Wilkins was on board.

“I always said ‘I was a 55-year smoker.’ I smoked from the age of 13 and I’m turning 67 this year. My parents were smokers. I have four siblings and two of us were smokers,” said Wilkins, who no longer smokes.

On April 18, 2024, Wilkins got her lung screening. It was a Thursday and on Monday she received a call telling her there was a suspicious spot detected, and she needed a CT scan. She first met with a pulmonologist and then with IU Health’s Dr. Kyla Joubert, a thoracic and cardiovascular surgeon.

Wilkins has worked at IU Health since 1994. She started in gastroenterology and now works in organ transplant with psychiatry.

“I knew I could trust the doctors, but I was still nervous. It was all happening so quickly,” said Wilkins. In May 2024, she underwent a procedure to remove the cancer.

“I’m glad they worked so quickly. By the time I got in, the spot had broken through the pulmonary wall and was considered Stage Two,” said Wilkins. “I was admitted for five days and was up mowing the lawn a few days later.” She completed four rounds of chemotherapy and now has immunotherapy

Wilkins says the scan saved her life.

After diagnosis, Wilkins attended a support group where she hears IU Health’s Dr. Nasser Hanna speak about lung cancer. Dr. Hanna who specializes in lung cancer research. “I’ve learned how this cancer is very good at hiding the clues my body shows of cancer. That’s what the scan did is show what was hiding.”

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths, killing more people than colorectal, breast, and prostate cancer–the second-, third-, and fourth-leading cancer killers–combined. Smoking remains the leading cause of preventable death.

IU Health Simon Cancer Center recently unveiled a mobile lung screening program, funded in part by a $4.5 million gift from the Tom and Julie Wood Family Foundation. IU Health matched the $4 million gift, the portion dedicated to the mobile screening program, making the gift’s total impact $8.5 million. In announcing the new mobile screenings, Dr. Hanna said: “All of us at the IU Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center and IU Health know how valuable these painless and safe imaging tests will be for those at risk of lung cancer–especially those who face barriers to accessing such screenings.”

The mobile screening unit, a 26-ton truck comes with a CT scanner and will be staffed with a driver, CT technologist, and nurse navigator. Another practitioner will schedule patients prior to screening events. The low-dose CT scan takes less than a minute. To learn more or schedule a screening call: 317-962-LUNG (5864), or email: lungscreening@iuhealth.org.

Research indicates early detection, done with low-dose CAT or CT scans, can decease the mortality rate caused by lung cancer by 20 percent. In Indiana, only seven percent of those at high risk were screened, according to 2022 data from the American Lung Association. Annual lung cancer screenings are recommended for adults ages 50 to 80 with a smoking history of at least 20 pack-years and who smoke now or quit within the past 15 years.