A lung cancer survivor's story

East Norwich lung cancer survivor Selma Rosen said the medical community should have realized the lifesaving benefits of CT screening years ago because people such as her are alive today.

Rosen, 66, said a small tumor was detected in 1995 after she had a CT scan for a benign lump in her neck. The lung cancer was found accidentally.

After surgery at a cancer center, she sought out doctors at New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center, who posited as early as 1992 that CT screening for early lung cancer spared lives.

Rosen said 15 years of tests have not only provided her with peace of mind, but proof that lung cancer caught early is not a killer. "I am a long-term survivor, and that's thanks to screening."

She applauds the government study that proved screening reduces lung cancer mortality and noted her recent scans have shown no signs of the disease.

In 2001, Rosen and a few other local lung cancer survivors founded the Lung Cancer Society of Long Island, which supports CT screening. She is the only survivor of the original founders, she said, because tumors in the others were found too late.