UT Medical Center working on adding lung cancer screening unit

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Lung cancer is the most common and most deadly cancer in Tennessee, but an expansion to the University of Tennessee Medical Center’s services is aimed at bringing down those numbers.

UTMC will soon be able to screen for lung cancer on the road thanks to a $2.3 million federal Community Project Funding grant, secured with support from U.S. Representative Tim Burchett. The funding was provided through the USDA to purchase and equip the mobile CT unit and develop the associated tracking and diagnostic infrastructure.

“It’s a 45-foot truck that has a CT scanner on the back. It is designed specifically to do low-dose lung cancer screening for patients in the community. We know from data, if we catch lung cancer at an early stage of stage 1 lung cancer, the survival is 80% to 95%. If we catch it at a late stage, like a stage 4 cancer, which is the most advanced stage, it’s about a 5% to 20% survival,” said Sean Jordan, the co-director of thoracic oncology at UTMC and assistant professor at the division of thoracic surgery.

Jordan said these mobile services are especially beneficial in rural communities, like Hancock County. He said the smoking rate there is around 30%, compared to the national average of 11%. He said sending the mobile unit into this community could help with smoking education and resources.

“It’s not just a program for lung cancer screening, it’s also an education component where we can reach out to these communities, help them with resources to help them quit smoking,  get them access to care that they would otherwise not get access to at a high quality medical center, and then get them plugged into that program so that we can help them quit smoking,” said Jordan.

The setup for the CT Lung Cancer Screening Unit will be similar to the Mobile Mammography Unit and take less than 15 minutes to go through. Those who want access to the screening just have to make an appointment.

“They come in, they meet with the coordinator. They take all their information and then they don’t have to undress, they get fully dressed onto the CT scanner table. They put their arms above their head. A scan is done in less than a minute,” said Jordan.

The medical center will also add another breast cancer screening bus. A $5.4 million Rural Health Resiliency grant from the State of Tennessee and the state Department of Health is funding the second unit, staffing for both programs, and new investments in smoking cessation and Appalachian health research.

“The mobile mammography unit that we already have is at the limit of its capacity that it cannot screen anyone else. It’s going out 6 days a week and screening all these people, and there are still places out there asking for that unit, so adding a second mobile mammography unit will further increase our ability to do that,” said Jordan.

Jordan said the buses improve access to health care and health outcomes.

“We aim to address that problem by providing them with the high-quality CT scanner locally to them, and that then also gets them involved in the program so that when we do find a lung cancer that we can address it and get them treated and help them improve their survival,” said Jordan.

The mobile cancer screening unit is expected to be delivered in December 2025. The second mammography unit is expected in the beginning of next year.