Early detection helps more patients access life-saving treatment options.
EDGEWOOD, Ky., July 16, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — In a milestone that reflects more than a decade of lifesaving work, St. Elizabeth Healthcare has completed more than 50,000 low-dose CT lung cancer screenings since launching its lung cancer screening program in 2013. Even more significantly, the program has now identified 500 patients with stage I lung cancer, offering these individuals the best chance at a cure.
“When you catch lung cancer in stage I, there’s a greater than 90% chance you can cure it with a simple surgical procedure or precisely targeted radiation,” said Michael Gieske, MD, Director of the St. Elizabeth Lung Cancer Screening Program. “That’s when you can make the greatest difference.”
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, lung cancer remains the third most common cancer in the U.S. and the leading cause of cancer deaths, taking more lives than breast, colon and prostate cancers combined. Often called a “silent killer,” it typically doesn’t show symptoms until reaching advanced stages, when treatment becomes more complex, costly, and less effective.
St. Elizabeth’s screening program is changing that reality. Today, approximately 73% of patients diagnosed through the program are found to be in stage I, and 76% are in stage I or II, both considered early, highly treatable stages.
The program’s 500th stage I diagnosis was Nancy Mueller, 58, who went in for her annual physical earlier this year. A routine scan revealed a small spot on her lung.
“My story is quite simple. I went in for my yearly physical, and like every year since my breast cancer diagnosis, I had a mammogram,” Nancy said. “I underwent the simple lung cancer screen and it turned out to be a good and bad situation. The cancer was caught early, and my surgery was successful — my lymph nodes were clean.”
The program is led by a multidisciplinary team of lung surgeons, radiologists, pulmonologists, primary care providers, nurse navigators and medical and radiation oncologists, and population health specialists. Screenings take less than 20 minutes and are available at one of seven ACR-accredited St. Elizabeth locations.
Since launching with just seven patients in 2013, the program now screens more than 8,000 individuals annually. Thanks in large part to efforts like those at St. Elizabeth in Kentucky, which once ranked among the lowest for early detection, now is a national leader in lung cancer screening rates.
As St. Elizabeth continues to build one of the most robust lung cancer screening programs in the nation, its mission remains clear: find lung cancer early, treat it swiftly and save lives.
To learn more about the lung cancer screening program, visit stelizabeth.com/lung or call our Lung Cancer Screening Nurse Navigators today at (859) 301-4072.
About St. Elizabeth Healthcare
St. Elizabeth Healthcare operates six facilities and more than 172 primary care and specialty practices throughout the Northern Kentucky, Southeastern Indiana and Greater Cincinnati region. Sponsored by the Diocese of Covington, St. Elizabeth is a mission-based organization committed to improving the health of the communities it serves, providing more than $100 million in uncompensated care and benefit to the community each year.
SOURCE St. Elizabeth Healthcare
