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National Trial Seeks to Establish Standard of Early Detection
According to the American Cancer Society, lung cancer, while the most preventable form of cancer, is the leading cause of cancer death for both men and women. Early detection is crucial to the successful treatment of cancer, but can be difficult for lung cancer, as the symptoms often do not appear until the disease has spread.
Later this month, thoracic radiologist Francine Jacobson, MD, MPH, and her fellow researchers will celebrate the one-year anniversary of an exciting, nationwide study, which seeks to provide a better understanding of the early detection of lung cancer and to ultimately save lives.
The National Lung Screening Trial (NLST), launched by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) on September 18, 2002, seeks to determine if screening people with either spiral computerized tomography (CT) or traditional chest X-ray before they exhibit symptoms can reduce deaths from lung cancer. “Spiral CT can detect tumors well under one centimeter in size, while chest X-rays detect tumors from one to two centimeters in size,” said Jacobson, who explained that by the time lung cancer is detected, it has usually spread outside the lung in 15 to 30 percent of cases.
The purpose of this trial is to compare these two methods of detecting early lung cancer, determining which test is more effective in reducing deaths from this disease. According to Jacobson, there is no scientific evidence as of yet to prove that screening or early detection of lung cancer with the spiral CT or the chest X-ray actually saves lives.
Study participants are comprised of men and women, who are current or former smokers between the ages of 55 and 74. “Smoking accounts for 87 percent – the majority – of lung cancer cases,” said Jacobson, who in addition to being trained in thoracic radiology, has an academic background in epidemiology and biostatistics.
Jacobson explains that there are more than 90 million current and former smokers in the United States at high risk for lung cancer. “Our goal is to enroll 50,000 participants at 30 sites across the country, including BWH,” she said.
Once enrolled in the study, participants are assigned at random to receive either a spiral CT or chest X-ray once a year for three years. Researchers, like Jacobson, then contact participants annually to monitor their health until 2009.
“When I look at how far we’ve come in terms of the early detection of breast cancer through mammography, it gives me great hope for this trial,” said Jacobson. “Should we be able to establish one of these forms of imaging as the major method of early detection for lung cancer, the mortality benefits, especially in people under the age of 50, could be really worthwhile. This is truly a meaningful and important study that I am excited to be a part of.”
For more information about the study, call 617-732-NLST or 1-877-842-4902. Additional information is also available online (www.bwhnlst.org).