CT screening may benefit lung cancer patients
CT screening may be able to detect early stage lung cancers, and improve the prognosis of lung cancer patients, according to a retrospective study in the May issue of the Journal of Thoracic Oncology.
Riken Kawachi, MD, from the Cheju National University Hospital, Cheju National University School of Medicine in Jeju, South Korea, and colleagues said that the efficacy of screening for lung cancers remains controversial, and none of the guidelines for lung cancer detection recommend screening for lung cancers. They undertook the study to retrospectively analyze and characterize the clinicopathological features of screen detected (SCR) lung cancer in comparison with lung cancers detected by other means.
The researchers retrospectively analyzed the records of 2,281 patients who underwent lung resection for primary lung cancer between 2000 and 2006. They classified patients into three groups, according to the method of detection: SCR (1,290), symptom-detected (SYM = 481) and incidental (INC = 568). In the SCR group, clinicopathological factors they analyzed according to the detection modality: chest x-ray (82.6 percent), CT (13.9 percent), PET (1.6 percent) and sputum cytology (1.3 percent).
Kawachi and colleagues found that the percentages of smaller (less than 2 cm) lung cancer (SCR, 42.6 percent; SYM, 19.6 percent; INC, 40.9 percent), adenocarcinoma (SCR, 85.8 percent; SYM, 58.6 percent; INC, 73.1 percent) and pathologic stage I (SCR, 73 percent; SYM, 47 percent; INC, 71.2 percent) were higher in the SCR group than in the other two groups.
The investigators found that the five-year survival rates in SCR, SYM and INC group were 79.6 percent, 74.6 percent and 64.6 percent, respectively. The patients with CT detected lung cancer had a higher incidence of smaller size (less than 2 cm, 76.4 percent), adenocarcinoma (92.6 percent) and stage I (clinical: 97.2 percent, pathologic: 93.1 percent).
However, they also reported that the five-year survival rates in the chest x-ray and CT groups were 77.8 percent and 91.2 percent, respectively.
Overall, Kawachi and colleagues noted that SCR lung cancers were characteristically less advanced, had a smaller diameter and were more frequently adenocarcinoma histologically.
Riken Kawachi, MD, from the Cheju National University Hospital, Cheju National University School of Medicine in Jeju, South Korea, and colleagues said that the efficacy of screening for lung cancers remains controversial, and none of the guidelines for lung cancer detection recommend screening for lung cancers. They undertook the study to retrospectively analyze and characterize the clinicopathological features of screen detected (SCR) lung cancer in comparison with lung cancers detected by other means.
The researchers retrospectively analyzed the records of 2,281 patients who underwent lung resection for primary lung cancer between 2000 and 2006. They classified patients into three groups, according to the method of detection: SCR (1,290), symptom-detected (SYM = 481) and incidental (INC = 568). In the SCR group, clinicopathological factors they analyzed according to the detection modality: chest x-ray (82.6 percent), CT (13.9 percent), PET (1.6 percent) and sputum cytology (1.3 percent).
Kawachi and colleagues found that the percentages of smaller (less than 2 cm) lung cancer (SCR, 42.6 percent; SYM, 19.6 percent; INC, 40.9 percent), adenocarcinoma (SCR, 85.8 percent; SYM, 58.6 percent; INC, 73.1 percent) and pathologic stage I (SCR, 73 percent; SYM, 47 percent; INC, 71.2 percent) were higher in the SCR group than in the other two groups.
The investigators found that the five-year survival rates in SCR, SYM and INC group were 79.6 percent, 74.6 percent and 64.6 percent, respectively. The patients with CT detected lung cancer had a higher incidence of smaller size (less than 2 cm, 76.4 percent), adenocarcinoma (92.6 percent) and stage I (clinical: 97.2 percent, pathologic: 93.1 percent).
However, they also reported that the five-year survival rates in the chest x-ray and CT groups were 77.8 percent and 91.2 percent, respectively.
Overall, Kawachi and colleagues noted that SCR lung cancers were characteristically less advanced, had a smaller diameter and were more frequently adenocarcinoma histologically.