Authors' objectives:

This report aims to assess the effectiveness of helical computed tomography (CT) for lung cancer screening in asymptomatic patients.

Authors' recommendations: While helical CT scans may be able to detect pulmonary nodules at an earlier stage, at the present time there is no evidence from randomized controlled trials that screening asymptomatic individuals for lung cancer with helical CT scan increases actual survival time or reduces lung cancer-related mortality. The use of helical CT is valuable for case finding in individuals with specific concerns or for diagnosis of pulmonary lesions in symptomatic individuals. Several large-scale randomized controlled trials are currently in progress to determine if helical CT scanning can improve health outcomes for patients at high risk of lung cancer. Due to the high false-positive rate associated with helical CT, detection of lung cancer by routine screening of asymptomatic individuals with helical CT may trigger a cascade of unnecessary care and secondary testing. Physicians should utilize a helical CT scan for specific indications in individual patients. The potential long-term efficacy and cost-effectiveness of the use of helical CT scanning for lung cancer screening needs to be established through additional published studies before becoming common practice.

Authors' methods: Review

Project Status: Completed

URL for project: http://www.health.state.mn.us/htac/ctdr.htm

Year Published: 2000

English language abstract: An English language summary is available

Publication Type: Not Assigned

Country: United States

Organisation Name: Health Technology Advisory Committee

Contact Address: Queries should be referred to the Minnesota Department of Health (http://www.health.state.mn.us/)

Copyright: Health Technology Advisory Committee