Annual Screening With Chest X-Ray Does Not Reduce Rate of Lung Cancer Deaths Much, Study Finds

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/10/111026143717.htm

ScienceDaily (Oct. 26, 2011) — In a trial that included more than 150,000 participants, those who underwent annual chest radiographic screening for up to 4 years did not have a significantly lower rate of death from lung cancer compared to participants who were not screened, according to a study in the November 2 issue of JAMA. The study is being published early online to coincide with its presentation at the annual meeting of the American College of Chest Physicians (CHEST 2011).

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During the entire 13 year study period, there were 1,696 lung cancers detected in the intervention group and 1,620 lung cancers in the usual care group. Of participants diagnosed with lung cancer during the follow-up, stage and histology was similar by group, with about 41 percent being adenocarcinoma, 20 percent squamous cell carcinoma, 14 percent small cell carcinoma, 5 percent large cell carcinoma, and 20 percent other non-small cell lung cancer.

Regarding the effect on mortality, the researchers found that annual chest radiographic screening for up to 4 years did not significantly decrease lung cancer mortality compared with usual care: for the total 13-year follow-up period, 1,213 lung cancer deaths were observed in the intervention group vs. 1,230 in the usual care group.
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