Lung cancer screening: the Mayo program.
The National Cancer Institute has sponsored three randomized controlled trials of screening for early lung cancer in large, high-risk populations to determine whether lung cancer detection can be improved by adding sputum cytological screening every 4 months to chest roentgenography done either yearly or every 4 months; and lung cancer mortality can be significantly reduced by this type of screening program, followed by appropriate treatment. Results of the three trials suggest that sputum cytology alone detects 15% to 20% of lung cancers, almost all of which are squamous cancers with a favorable prognosis; and chest roentgenography may be a more effective test for early-stage lung cancer than previous reports have suggested. Nevertheless, results of the randomized trial conducted at the Mayo Clinic showed that offering both procedures to high-risk outpatients every 4 months conferred no mortality advantage over standard medical practice that included recommended annual testing.
D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D003581:Cytodiagnosis; D006801:Humans; D008168:Lung / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000517:prevention & control*; D008403:Mass Screening; D011859:Radiography; D011897:Random Allocation; D012306:Risk; D013183:Sputum / Q000166:cytology