New study shows lung cancer surveillance in the United States misses most patients; Northwestern Medicine researchers urge universal age-based screening

Carla Tapia

Carla Tapia, a mother of three from Beltsville, Md., was shocked to learn about her stage 4 lung cancer diagnosis at the age of 33. Tapia had some smoking exposure during her teenage years but quit when she was 18 and currently doesn’t meet the USPSTF screening criteria for lung cancer.

In December 2019, Tapia developed a fever and was diagnosed with pneumonia. Her symptoms progressed to a bad cough with mucus, but as the COVID pandemic hit, Tapia remained focused on her three kids and put her own health on the backburner.

By July 2020, she could no longer catch her breath and that’s when she was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer, which had spread to both lungs and was inoperable. For the next four years, Tapia underwent chemotherapy treatments, but the cancer kept growing. Out of options, she heard about the DREAM Program at Northwestern Medicine, which provides double-lung transplants to select patients with advanced lung cancers.

By the summer of 2024, Tapia’s health was quickly declining, and she flew to Chicago on supplemental oxygen for a transplant evaluation. On September 12, 2024, Tapia received a life-saving double-lung transplant at Northwestern Memorial, and the 38-year-old is now back home in Maryland.

“When I was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer, I was told there was no cure, but thanks to Northwestern Medicine, I’m alive today and no longer having to go to the hospital for weekly chemotherapy treatments. Instead, I just finished by bachelor’s degree and am hoping to go to law school,” said Tapia. “I keep hearing stories about young people being diagnosed with lung cancer, and if we could expand the screening guidelines, I believe more lung cancers could be caught at earlier stages, and more lives would be saved.”

By the summer of 2024, Tapia’s health was quickly declining, and she flew to Chicago on supplemental oxygen for a transplant evaluation. On September 12, 2024, Tapia received a life-saving double-lung transplant at Northwestern Memorial, and the 38-year-old is now back home in Maryland.

“When I was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer, I was told there was no cure, but thanks to Northwestern Medicine, I’m alive today and no longer having to go to the hospital for weekly chemotherapy treatments. Instead, I just finished by bachelor’s degree and am hoping to go to law school,” said Tapia. “I keep hearing stories about young people being diagnosed with lung cancer, and if we could expand the screening guidelines, I believe more lung cancers could be caught at earlier stages, and more lives would be saved.”

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