CT Scan May Catch Lung Cancer Earlier

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Thursday, October 26, 2006; 12:00 AM

By Vivian Richardson, Ivanhoe Health Correspondent

ORLANDO, Fla. (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- For patients who are at risk of developing lung cancer, an annual CT screening test could catch a tumor at a treatable stage.

Researchers from the Weill Medical College of Cornell University in New York screened more than 30,000 people who were at risk for developing lung cancer. Doctors screened patients using an annual low-dose CT scan. The goal was to catch a tumor before it progressed beyond stage I, the only stage at which a surgical cure of lung cancer is believed to be likely.

The screenings resulted in a diagnosis of lung cancer in 484 people, and 412 of them had stage I tumors. Of these, 302 had surgery to remove the lesions and had a survival rate of 92 percent, according to the Cornell researchers. Two patients died within two weeks of surgery to remove the cancer. Eight patients diagnosed with stage I cancer did not undergo treatment and died within five years.

Ned Patz, M.D., from Duke University Medical Center urges caution when considering the results of this study. He was not involved in this research project, but he says he would like to see the results of a study comparing low-dose CT screenings to other forms of lung cancer screenings in a randomized trial before practitioners recommend CT screenings to their at-risk patients. "It doesn't tell you if you screened a population whether we would actually reduce the mortality or the death from lung cancer, which is the ultimate test of a screening test," he told Ivanoe.

"I want to promote to our patients who potentially have lung cancer that this actually is going to benefit them, rather than potentially causing them more harm," Dr. Patz said. CT scans could cause harm by exposing patients to unnecessary radiation or unnecessary surgeries that carry substantial risk.

This article was reported by Ivanhoe.com, who offers Medical Alerts by e-mail every day of the week. To subscribe, go to: http://www.ivanhoe.com/newsalert/.

SOURCE: Ivanhoe interview with Ned Patz, M.D., Duke University Medical Center; The New England Journal of Medicine, 2006;355:1763-1771