Lung cancer screening with low-dose CT: its effectiveness in early diagnosis and in mortality reduction

Computed tomography (CT) is probably the most valuable and widely applied imaging procedure for the diagnosis and staging of lung cancer. The growing familiarity and expertise gained by diagnostic radiologists with this technology as well as the recent advances in CT techniques have greatly impacted on patient management. The helical, low-dose CT or spiral CT (HLDCT) appears to be more sensitive and specific for early lung cancer diagnosis than prior investigative tools. Although many trials have shown the effectiveness of spiral CT in detecting lung cancer in early stages, its potential benefits in mass screening for prevention of death due to lung cancer remain to be proven. Currently there is no official recommendation to screen for lung cancer even in high-risk populations. This brief review examines the problems presented by lung cancer screening, and the results of past and recent studies.