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Does lung cancer screening with low-dose computerised tomography (LDCT) improve disease-free survival?

^a Department of Thoracic Surgery, Guy's Hospital, St Thomas Street, London, UK
^b Information Scientist, Royal College of Surgeons of England, Lincolns Inn Fields, London, UK

*Corresponding author. Tel./fax: +44 020 7188 7188.

E-mail address: ianjhunt{at}blueyonder.co.uk (I. Hunt).

A best evidence topic in cardiac surgery was written according to a structured protocol. The question addressed was whether screening an asymptomatic person with a low-dose computerised tomography (LDCT) would detect lung cancer early and most importantly improve that person's disease-free survival from lung cancer. Altogether 354 papers were identified using the search below. Ten papers presented the best evidence to answer the clinical question. The author, journal, date and country of publication, patient group studied, study type, relevant outcomes, results, and study weaknesses of the papers are tabulated. We conclude that the current observational and prevalence studies on the role of LDCT screening has failed to establish whether LDCT really impacts on improved disease-free survival, despite consistently higher early detection rates of lung cancer.

Key Words: Evidence-based medicine; Thoracic surgery; Lung cancer screening