Naval Medical Center Portsmouth, Va. – Join us Friday, Nov. 22, at noon as Naval Medical Center Portsmouth kicks off its Lung Cancer Screening Program in conjunction with Lung Cancer Awareness Month.

Guests include former NFL linebacker Chris Draft and U.S. Rep. Bobby Scott, D-Va.

Draft has a personal connection to lung cancer. He lost his wife, Keasha, to lung cancer in 2011. “Team Draft” raises money for lung cancer research, raises awareness about lung cancer, and provides inspiration to lung cancer patients and caregivers. Keasha had never smoked, and by challenging the perception that lung cancer patients contributed to their own illness by smoking, Team Draft hopes to reverse a stigma that negatively impacts lung cancer research funding.

NMCP’s new Lung Cancer Screening Program incorporates a low-dose CT chest scan into the annual screening for patients age 55 and older who smoke 30 packs a year, and patients age 50 and older who smoke 20 packs a year and who’ve also had a family member with lung cancer. This new annual screening is expected to decrease lung cancer deaths by 20 percent through early detection. It’s expected that other diseases will also be detected early, so treatment can begin before disease advances.

The scan uses no needles, no CT contrast dye, and is painless. Patients can walk in for the scan, which takes less than five minutes. EDITORS: If you wish to cover the kickoff, please call NMCP Public Affairs by 10 a.m., Friday, Nov. 22, at 953-7422 so that we can reserve your parking space. Please arrive at NMCP’s front gate on Effingham Street by 11:45 a.m. to be escorted onto the base.