Chemoprevention and Screening for Lung Cancer: Changing Our Focus to Former Smokers

Clinical trials of chemoprevention for lung cancer have yielded negative results, with suggested worsening of cancer incidence in those who continue to smoke. Continued smoking over age 55 is associated with decreased longevity and multiple comorbidities. It is possible that clinical trials focusing on former smokers in both prevention and screening trials will yield significant benefit, now masked by the population of continued smokers.