Lung Cancer Screening Impacts Survival
Reported May 06, 2009
(Ivanhoe Newswire) — A new examination of patients who underwent lung cancer resection surgery shows the type of screening used to detect cancer may impact a patient’s survival rate.
The analysis of 2,281 patient records was led by Dr. Hisao Asamura at The National Cancer Center Hospital in Tokyo, Japan. The patients were classified based on the way their lung cancer was detected, either through a CT scan or x-ray. Those detected through a CT scan had a 91.2 percent 5-year survival rate, as opposed to 77.8 percent for those detected through x-ray.
The detection type also played a role in the patient’s survival rate. Screen detection demonstrated the highest rate, at 79.6 percent. Other detection types include symptoms (74.6 percent) and initial detection (64.6 percent.)
Results may be explained by a CT scan’s higher accuracy than x-rays. A CT scan has the capability to detect tumors at an earlier stage, while it is smaller and more operable.
SOURCE: Published in the Journal of Thoracic Oncology, May 2009
