MONDAY, Nov. 22, 2004 (HealthDayNews) -- One in three of 1,500 former or current smokers tested positive for lung abnormalities when they were screened for lung cancer using low-dose spiral computed tomography.
Those findings appear in a U.S. National Cancer Institute study in the Nov. 22 online issue of Cancer.
Of the 522 people who tested positive, 12 percent had lung biopsies and 7 percent were diagnosed with lung cancer within a year of their first positive screening results.
LDCT, a more advanced form of computed tomography, is now being evaluated as a more effective alternative to chest radiographs for lung cancer screening. While it can identify smaller lesions better than x-ray, no studies have yet shown that it can help reduce lung cancer death rates.
In this study, researchers reviewed the medical records of 1,500 current or former smokers who received the procedure as part of the National Lung Cancer Screening Trial.
More information
The National Cancer Institute has more about lung cancer screening.
