For years the idea of annual CT screening for long-time smokers and some ex-smokers has been bandied about in the medical world, about whether it could provide any true benefit and possibly catch lung cancers early, when they are the most treatable.
Thanks to a number of recent studies as well as the National Lung Screening Trial (NLST), the medical world may be starting to agree that these annual scans would be beneficial.
Specifically, the National Lung Screening Trial found a twenty percent reduction in lung cancer death and an almost seven percent reduction in all-cause death associated with CT screening.
Still, the practice remains frowned on and discouraged in general practice, and in the NLST 95 percent of abnormal scans turned out to be non-malignant lesions. Furthermore, the risks should be discussed between doctor and patient—meaning the risk of false-positive tests and whatever may follow in the wake of a false-positive.
High-risk patients are defined as either:
-- Persons aged 55 to 74 with a history of smoking at minimum 30 pack-years, along with having smoked within the previous 15 years;
or
-- Persons aged 50 and older with a history of smoking at minimum 20 pack-years and a second risk factor (aside from exposure to second-hand smoke), i.e. exposure to asbestos.
Source: Medpage Today
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