CT Screening and Lung Cancer Detection in Patients at High Risk

These results show that lung cancer, when detected and treated early, often is curable.

In a large collaborative study (the International Early Lung Cancer Action Project [I-ELCAP]), low-dose computed tomography (CT) screening of 31,567 asymptomatic participants who were at high risk for lung cancer was performed in 1993–2005 (baseline) and was repeated in 27,456 participants in 1994–2005 (7–18 months after baseline). These screening scans yielded 484 lung cancer diagnoses. Among these cases, 412 (85%) were clinical stage I lung cancers.

For the 302 patients with stage I cancers that were resected within 1 month of diagnosis, estimated 10-year survival was 92% (95% confidence interval, 88%–95%), whereas all 8 patients with untreated stage I cancers died within 5 years. For all cases, regardless of stage and treatment, 10-year e…

Reviewing Author

Henry Mark Kuerer, MD, PhD, FACS

CT Screening and Lung Cancer Detection in Patients at High Risk

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Reviewing Author