Screening for lung cancer with low-dose CT scans

Abstract

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths in males and the second leading cancer cause of death in females. The 5-year survival of all lung cancer patients in the United States is 16%. Only 15% of new lung cancers are stage I at the time of diagnosis, and over 50% of patients have stage IV lung cancer at diagnosis. Most lung cancers are not diagnosed until the patient presents with signs or symptoms of disease, and these are usually due to advanced-stage disease. If we are going to increase the cure rate for lung cancer, then more cases must be detected while the patient is asymptomatic and before the cancer has spread. Screening of high-risk individuals with low-dose computed tomography (LDCT) may help in diagnosing the lung cancer at earlier stages. Screening with LDCT in high-risk individuals is becoming the standard of care in the United States and, along with smoking cessations, offers the best opportunity for decreasing a substantial number of lung cancer deaths. In this article, recent manuscripts about lung cancer screening with LDCT have been reviewed.