点击显示 收起
Oct. 25, 2006 - More than 90% of lung cancer patients end up dying of their disease; now a potentially landmark study suggests early screening could save most of them.
In the international study, routine screening using spiral computed tomography (CT) imaging resulted in the detection of lung cancercancer at its earliest and most treatable stage in 85% of cancers found.
The estimated 10-year survival rate for patients with these stage I cancers was 88%.
That compares with a typical five-year survival rate of around 5% for patients with advanced, stage IV lung cancer.
"Lung cancer is highly curable if we find it early enough," lead researcher Claudia Henschke, MD, PhD, tells WebMD. "We believe this study provides compelling evidence that CT screening for lung cancer offers new hope for millions of people at risk for this disease and could dramatically reverse lung cancer death rates."
More than 31,500 people at high risk for lung cancer took part in the International Early Lung Cancer Action Project (I-ELCAP), carried out at 38 centers in seven countries.
A total of 484 lung cancers were found in this high-risk group, which included people with a history of cigarette smoking, exposure to secondhand smoke, or exposure to occupational hazards such as asbestos or radon.
The study is published in the Oct. 26 issue of The New England Journal of Medicine.