Is modern chest radiography efficacious in screening for lung cancer?

January 01, 0001

Is modern chest radiography efficacious in screening for lung cancer?

As part of the Prostate, Lung, Colorectal, and Ovarian (PLCO) Cancer Screening Trial, these North American researchers examined the efficacy screening for lung cancer with modern chest radiographs regarding patient mortality. Their study was a randomized controlled trial of 154 901 enrollees 55-74 years old, 77,445 randomized to annual screenings and 77,456 to usual care. Enrollees were followed for up to 13 years. They also analyzed data from a subset of patients eligible for the National Lung Screening Trial (NLST).

The researchers found: "Screening adherence was 86.6% at baseline and 79% to 84% at years 1 through 3. The rate of screening use in the usual care group was 11%. Cumulative lung cancer incidence rates through 13 years of follow-up were 20.1 per 10 000 person-years in the intervention group and 19.2 per 10 000 person-years in the usual care group (rate ratio [RR

The researchers concluded: "Annual screening with chest radiography did not reduce lung cancer mortality compared with usual care."

Further evidence that there is no role for chest x-rays in screening for lung cancer


For the full abstract, click here.

JAMA 306(17):1865-1873, 2 November 2011 © 2011 American Medical Association
Screening by Chest Radiograph and Lung Cancer Mortality. Martin M. Oken, Willam G. Hocking, Paul A. Kvale, et al.

Category: R. Respiratory. Keywords: lung cancer, chest x-ray, chests radiography, screening, mortality, randomized controlled trial, journal watch.
Synopsis edited by Dr Paul Schaefer, Toledo, Ohio. Posted on Global Family Doctor 18 November 2011

Pearls are an independent product of the Cochrane primary care group and are meant for educational use and not to guide clinical care.

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