Saturday, 29 October 2011

nnual Screening Chest X-Rays Don't Lead to Increased Survival in Lung Cancer


Annual Screening Chest X-Rays Don't Lead to Increased Survival in Lung Cancer
Lung cancer mortality is not reduced among people who undergo annual screening with chest x-rays, according to a report in JAMA.
Some 155,000 people aged 55 through 74 were randomized either to annual screening with chest radiographs or to usual care for 4 years. After a median follow-up of 12 years, lung cancer mortality in the two groups was roughly the same: 14.0 per 10,000 person-years in the x-ray group and 14.2 among controls.
An editorialist says that the results are valuable for putting to rest the question of whether lung cancer screening with chest radiographs is effective.