CT screening for lung cancer: not ready for routine practice.
Lung cancer continues to be a major worldwide health problem. Multiple strategies are being explored in an attempt to reduce lung cancer mortality, including a renewed interest in screening. Multiple low-dose spiral computed tomography (CT) trials have been proposed, as proponents predict that small nodules will represent early-stage disease and detecting them will ultimately translate into improvements in outcomes. At this time, however, only prevalence-screening data are available, and it remains to be seen if CT will truly reduce mortality. The appropriate hypothesis-driven studies still must be performed and the results carefully analyzed before CT screening for lung cancer can be accepted as the standard of care.
Patz
E F
EF
Department of Radiology, Duke University Medical Center, Box 3808, Durham, NC 27710, USA. patz0002@mc.duke.edu
Black
W C
WC
Goodman
P C
PC
D006801:Humans; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000401:mortality / Q000517:prevention & control; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D015996:Survival Rate; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed