Cancer lung screening
Who are high risk individuals for developing lung cancer?
- Smokers over the age of 50
Which imaging procedures are considered in early detection of lung cancer?
What is the current role of CXR as a screening test for early detection of cancer lung?
- Studies have proven that CXR as a screening test has not had any survival advantage and is not recommended any more.
What is the current role of Spiral CT as a screening test for early detection of cancer lung?
- Sensitivity
- CT is more sensitive than conventional chest radiography for the detection of lung nodules
- Specificity
- Most of the nodules are benign .
- Some of these nodules prove to be lung cancer
What is the cost for screening high risk patients?
- Cost of the program
- Number of potential candidates for screening
- Cost of spiral CT
- Annual screening
Most of the nodules detected by spiral CT are benign . What is the morbidity and harm to patients by investigations of these non specific lesions
Patients with such nodules need further workup which in itself can be costly and nerve racking to prove it is benign
- unnecessary anxiety
- expensive follow up evaluations
- mortality and morbidity from procedures
What is the advantage of early detection.
- CT detects more cases of lung cancer
- More patients screened by CT have resectable early-stage disease.
- Aggressive tumors not benefited by detection by screening procedure
- No proven benefit for early detection of slow growing tumors
- No proven survival benefit
What are the current recommendations for lung cancer screening?
- Several studies are being conducted to identify any benefit of a screening CT.
- Current recommendations do not call for lung cancer screening of either the general population or of smokers for lung cancer
Required images
- CXR
- Non specific nodule
- Specific nodules
- Spiral CT
- multiple nodules
- Non specific nodule
- Specific nodules