YORK, Pa. — 1-in-16 Americans will be diagnosed with lung cancer in their lifetime.
"If you can find it earlier, we know outcomes are so much better and the survival rate goes way up," explained Dr. Troy Moritz with UPMC.
Despite this, screening rates remain extremely low, with only 8% of eligible people participating.
"It's a low dose cat scan, it's fairly easy, no IV contrast required so it's not a complicated exam compared to colonoscopy prep and things like that," Dr. Moritz said.
It is also not nearly as costly as other tests, he said most screening programs run just a couple hundred dollars.
"Lung cancer does affect mothers, parents, young females, young males, it's not just this old smokers disease anymore," he said.
Just ask Stephanie Williams, who was 37-years-old when she was diagnosed 3 years ago.
"I'm not a smoker, I've never been a smoker, and I have no family history of cancer so this was completely unexpected," Williams said.
The mother of a kindergartner at the time, says she had a mild cough that wouldn't go away.
"It would wax and wane a little, it must be the pollen count making me a little scratchy, maybe it's the humidity today... I would make these excuses," she said.
Luckily, she mentioned it to her doctor at a routine checkup and her doctor took her concerns seriously, immediately ordering an x-ray.
"Everything happened so fast that by the time they told me what stage I was, I had barely processed that I had cancer," Williams said.
After surgery and chemotherapy, Williams is now using her heath and experience to be an advocate for others. "Pay attention to your body. If you have a cough that doesn't go away, if you have unwanted weight loss that you can't explain, absolutely go get checked," she said.
Dr. Moritz says Williams is helping change the stigma every day.
"She's an advocate. Every person she talks to helps change the perception of who can get lung cancer. The Lung Association is famous for saying it, but all you have to have to get lung cancer are lungs," Dr. Moritz said.
The American Cancer Society recommends lung cancer screenings for individuals over the age of 50 with a history of smoking a pack a day for 20 years or more. Dr. Moritz said if you don't qualify, spending the few hundred bucks for a scan could end up saving your life.