New guidelines for lung cancer screening. The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force has issued new guidelines that qualify more people for lung cancer screening. The guidelines now recommend annual scans for people ages 50 to 80 years who have a 20 pack-year smoking history and still smoke or who quit within the past 15 years. A pack-year represents someone smoking a pack of cigarettes a day for one year, or the equivalent. It is believed the changes will help address racial and ethnic disparities in lung cancer screening. Black people who smoke are at higher risk for lung cancer at younger ages and with a lighter smoking history than White people. The change is also expected to benefit women, who typically have fewer pack-years of smoking than men. To read the guidelines, go to http://www.uspreventiveservicestaskforce.org/uspstf/recommendation/lung-cancer-s.