TAMPA, Fla. — Moffitt Cancer Center has unveiled a new mobile lung cancer screening unit.

Dr. Jhanelle Gray, chair of the Thoracic Oncology Department, says the convenience of taking screening into communities and raising awareness about the importance of early detection will help save lives.

“The purpose of this mobile unit is really to reach more individuals that are at high risk and need lung cancer screening but are unable to get it or are even unaware that they should be getting it,” Gray said.

Moffitt boasts having the only such mobile screening unit in the state of Florida. Once deployed in November, the bus could provide some 30 screenings a day.

Gray says this approach to early detection has the potential to increase lung screening rates. The American Lung Association reports about 3% of those eligible for screening in Florida actually get screened. Gray has some reassurance for those who might be questioning radiation therapy.

“This is a low-dose CT scan, which is what patients should be getting as part of screening, and therefore the risks to the patient is very, very low,” Gray said. “It is more important to get screened than not get screened.”