Cancer Research
30 Jul Tomosynthesis Reduces Mammogram Call-Backs for Additional Testing
MedicalResearch.com Interview with
Dr. Brian Haas MD
Department of Diagnostic Radiology,Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study?
Dr. Haas: We found that tomosynthesis helped to reduce the number of women who undergo a screening mammogram and are called back for additional imaging and testing. Specifically, the greatest reductions in patients being called back were seen in younger patients and those with dense breasts. Tomosynthesis is analogous to a 3D mammogram, and improves contrast of cancers against the background breast parenchyma.
30 Jul Lung Cancer Incidence and Air Pollution
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Ole Raaschou-Nielsen, MSc, PhD
Head of Research Group for Work, Environment & Cancer
Danish Cancer Society Research Center
Strandboulevarden 49
2100 Copenhagen Ø
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study?
Answer: The study shows that people who live at locations with higher levels of particles in the air are at higher risk for development of lung cancer.
It seems that there is no threshold for air pollution with particles below which there is no risk; the results show that it is more like “the more air pollution the worse and the less pollution the better”.
The strongest association was seen for adenocarcinoma of the lung.
25 Jul TAp73, a molecular relative of p53 Tumor Suppressor Protein, gives tumor cells a growth advantage
 MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Xiaolu Yang, Ph.D.
Professor of Cancer Biology at the Perelman School of Medicine
University of Pennsylvania
and the Abramson Family Cancer Research Institute,
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study?
Dr. Yang: TAp73 is a structural homologue of the preeminent tumor suppressor p53, but its role in tumorigenesis has been unclear. In this study, we show that TAp73 supports the proliferation of tumor cells. Mechanistically, TAp73 activates the expression of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD), a rate-limiting enzyme in the pentose phosphate pathway. This function of TAp73 is required for maintaining a robust biosynthesis and anti-oxidant defense in tumor cells. These finding connects TAp73 to oncogenic growth and suggest that G6PD may be a valuable target for tumor therapy.
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10 Jul Prostate Cancer: Soy Supplementation Did Not Reduce Recurrence
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Maarten C. Bosland, DVSc, PhD
Professor of Pathology
Department of Pathology
University of Illinois at Chicago
College of Medicine
Chicago, IL 60612
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study?
Dr. Bosland: Daily consumption of a supplement containing soy protein isolate for two years following radical prostatectomy did not reduce recurrence of prostate cancer in men at high risk for this (radical prostatectomy is surgical removal of the prostate to treat prostate cancer). The study showed that this soy supplementation was safe. It is not clear whether this result indicates that soy does not prevent the development of prostate cancer, but men that have the disease probably do not benefit from soy supplementation.
08 Jul Lung Cancer Screening CT Scans Can Predict Future Cardiovascular Events
Posted at 12:39h
in Author Interviews, Cancer Research, CT Scanning, Heart Disease, JACC, Lung Cancer, Medical Imaging
Dr. Pim A. de Jong,
Department of Radiology
University Medical Center Utrecht,
Heidelberglaan 100, E.01.132, 3508GA
Utrecht, the Netherlands.
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study?
Dr. de Jong: The main findings of the study is that lung cancer screening CT scans can predict future cardiovascular events.
MedicalResearch.com: Where any of the findings unexpected?
Dr. de Jong: The unexpected aspect is that the CT scans were not-ECG gated, but even these non-gated scans were good enough to quantify arterial calcifications and predict risk.
03 Jul Colon Cancer Screening: Race as an Determinant of Risk
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Paul C. Schroy III, M.D., M.P.H. Professor of Medicine, Boston University School of Medicine Director of Clinical Research, GI Section, Boston Medical Center 85 East Concord Street, Room 7715 Boston, MA 02118 MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Schroy: Our study affirms the importance of race as an independent...
03 Jul Melanoma: Women Have Survival Advantage
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Susan Swetter, MD
Professor of Dermatology
Director, Pigmented Lesion & Melanoma Program
Stanford University Medical Center & Cancer Institute
Melanoma Survival Disadvantage in Young, Non-Hispanic White Males Compared With Females
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Swetter: Women diagnosed with melanoma tend to fare better than men in terms of improved survival, and this has mostly been attributed to better screening practices and behaviors in women that result in thinner, more curable tumors, and/or more frequent physician visits in older individuals that result in earlier detection. Our study focused on survival differences between young men and women (ages 15-39 years) diagnosed with cutaneous (skin) melanoma, who constitute a generally healthy population compared to the older adults that have usually been studied. We found that young men were 55% more likely to die of melanoma than age-matched women, despite adjustment for factors that may affect prognosis, such as tumor thickness, histology and location of the melanoma, as well as presence and extent of metastasis. Our results present further evidence that a biologic mechanism may contribute to the sex disparity in melanoma survival, since adolescent and young adults see physicians less frequently and are less likely to have sex-related behavior differences in skin cancer screening practices than older individuals.01 Jul Detecting Infiltrating Breast Ductal Carcinoma: Tomosynthesis in High Risk Patients
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Sarah H. O'Connell M.D. PGY-4 Yale New Haven Hospital Yale School of Medicine Department of Diagnostic Radiology MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Answer: The purpose of our study was to evaluate the visibility of cancers in women at high-risk for breast cancer on 2D mammography compared to digital breast tomosynthesis. In other words, how would the use of tomosynthesis contribute to cancer visualization in this population of patients? We evaluated the cancers seen in both high-risk patients, those with a >20% lifetime risk of breast cancer, and intermediate risk patients, those with a 15-20% lifetime risk of breast cancer, for a total of 56 cancers. We found that 41% (23/56) cancers were better seen on tomosynthesis and 4% (2/56) were only seen on tomosynthesis. The majority of the cancers seen better or only on tomosynthesis presented as masses rather than as calcifications alone which were better seen on 2D mammography.28 Jun Fish Intake and Risk of Breast Cancer
MedicalResearch.com Interview with Duo Li (PhD, MSc, BMed) Co-Editor, Asia Pacific Journal of Clinical Nutrition Associate Editor, Journal of Nutrigenetics & Nutrigenomics Professor of Nutrition Dept. of Food Science & Nutrition Zhejiang University 866 Yu-Hang-Tang Road Hangzhou 310058, China MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Li: The main finding is that intake marine n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 PUFAs) from both fish and fish oil lower the risk of breast cancer. Women with a high intake of marine n-3 PUFAs had a 14-percent reduction in risk of breast cancer compared with those who had a low intake. Every 0.1 g increase in marine n-3 PUFA per day was linked to a five-percent reduction in breast cancer risk.08 Jun Esophageal Cancer Risk and Dietary Flavonoids
DR. RAUL ZAMORA-ROS, PhD. POSDOCTORAL FELLOW UNIT OF NUTRITION, ENVIRONMENT AND CANCER CATALAN INSTITUTE OF ONCOLOGY (ICO) – BELLVITGE BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE (IDIBELL) BARCELONA, SPAIN MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Zamora-Ros: Our study shows that diets rich on flavonoids (polyphenols ubiquitously distributed in the plant kingdom, such as in fruit, vegetables, tea, wine and chocolate), particularly flavonols, are associated with less esophageal cancer risk, especially in current smokers. Tobacco smoking causes oxidative stress, and both oxidative stress and smoking tobacco are related to increased esophageal cancer risk. Therefore, our data suggest that the possible protective mechanism of dietary flavonoids may be related to their antioxidant properties, which may not be attributed to the direct antioxidant action, but to the ability to modulate antioxidant enzymatic pathways.30 May Eradicating disseminated tumors, even in brain, by injecting specific antibodies
MedicalResearch.com eInterview with Ronald Levy, M.D. Professor and Chief Division of Oncology Stanford University, 269 Campus Drive Stanford, California 94305, USA MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Levy: Injection of antibodies that deplete Treg cells directly into a tumor can evoke an immune response that cures the animal of distant, untreated tumors. This effect eliminates cancer even in the brain. The dose of antibodies locally injected can be as low as 1/100 the dose used for systemic injection and therefore should avoid the usual autoimmune side effects of these antibodies. The antibodies used are directed against CTLA4 and OX40 antigens.29 May Age, Tumor Risk, and Comorbidity on Competing Risks for Survival in Men With Prostate Cancer
MedicalResearch.com eInterview with Timothy J. Daskivich, MD Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Clinical Scholars® University of California Los Angeles Division of General Internal Medicine and Health Services Research 10940 Wilshire Blvd, 7th Floor Suite 710, Room 721 Los Angeles, California 90024 MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Were any of the findings unexpected? Dr. Daskivich: We found that age and a simple count of comorbidities were strongly predictive of likelihood of dying of causes other than prostate cancer. When we put numbers to it, it was surprising how often older men with multiple comorbidities were dying of something else than their prostate cancer within 14 years of diagnosis. For example, a 75-year old man with 3 or more comorbidities—diabetes, high blood pressure, and history of heart attack—had a probability of death from something other than CaP of 71% at 10 years. For a 71-year old man with 3 or more comorbidities, the probability was 60%. We compared that to the amount of time they were dying of prostate cancer, which was 3% for low-risk disease and 7% for intermediate-risk disease.27 May CT Scan Exposure in Childhood or Youth and Cancer Risk
Posted at 16:03h
in Author Interviews, BMJ, Brigham & Women's - Harvard, Cancer Research, CT Scanning, Medical Imaging, Medical Research Centers
John D. Mathews, MBBS, MD, PhD, DSc Hon, DMedSc Hon,
Professor of epidemiology at the School of Population and Global Health,
University of Melbourne,
Carlton, Victoria, Australia
Cancer risk in 680 000 people exposed to computed tomography scans in childhood or adolescence: data linkage study of 11 million Australians
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study?
Prof Mathews: We found that for persons having at least one CT scan before the age of 20 years, and followed for an average period of 10 years, the average risk of cancer was increased by 24% compared with unexposed persons matched for age, sex and year of birth. The cancer risk increased by 16% for each CT scan that preceded the cancer by more than one year. The proportional increase in risk was greater for persons exposed at younger ages.
26 May Predicting Aggresive Metastasis-Prone Lung Cancer by Identification of Abnormally Activated Genes
MedicalResearch.com Authors’ Interview: Sophie Rousseaux and Saadi Khochbin INSERM, U823; Université Joseph Fourier, Grenoble 1; Institut Albert Bonniot, Grenoble F-38700, France. MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Answer: We first discovered that all cancer cells lose the ability to maintain gene silencing and therefore activate genes that should normally remain silent. Although present in all cells, some genes are normally expressed (or “active”) only in one cell type. For example, normal lung cells do not express genes that are only active in germ cells (i. e., cells that will become spermatozoa), but lung cancerous cells activate some of these germ cells-specific genes. In this work we designed a specific approach to detect these aberrant gene expressions and found that they occur in all cancers of all origins. We then decided to exploit this phenomenon to help the detection of cancers and predict their evolution. For this purpose, we chose to focus on lung cancer to establish “a proof of principle”. We found that, among all the genes wrongly expressed in the tumour cells, the activation of 26 of them enabled us to identify the most aggressive lung cancers. Compared with the existing information currently available for doctors (i.e.; tumour size, its pathological subtype…), our approach brings much more precision in predicting the evolution of the tumours and the prognosis of the patients.07 May Minimal dose CT superior to chest X-ray for detection of recurrent lung cancer
MedicalResearch.com eInterview with Dr. Waël C. Hanna University of Toronto departments of Thoracic Surgery and Diagnostic Radiology, MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Hanna: By using Minimal Dose CT Scan (MnDCT) for surveillance of patients after lung cancer resection, we can detect 94.2% of recurrent or new lung cancer in this patient population. When we use chest x-ray (CXR) to conduct surveillance on the same cohort of patients, we can only detect 21.1% of new or recurrent lung cancer cases. Therefore, while MnDCT scan subjects the patient to a similar effective dose of radiation as CXR (0.2 mSV vs. 0.16 mSv), it is a vastly superior test for follow-up of this high risk population. More importantly, when we use MnDCT for surveillance, we can detect new or recurrent lung cancer at the asymptomatic locoregional stage in 78% of patients, and there quarters of those patients are candidates for further treatment in the form of surgery or radiation. In the patients who were treated, median survival was 69 months after initial operation, versus 25 months in those who received no treatment.02 May Structural basis for substrate transport in the GLUT-homology family of monosaccharide transporters.
MedicalResearch.com eInterview with Christian Löw, Ph.D. Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics Karolinska Institutet SE-171 77 Stockholm Sweden MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Löw: In order to grow, cells need fuels such as sugars. Specialized proteins that reside in the cell envelope transport these nutrients into the cell; XylE is a bacterial transport protein that is highly similar to members of the human GLUT transporters. Our study describes for the first time the mechanistic details of how cells import sugars by resolving the different steps of the transport cycle at almost atomic resolution. Tumors are especially dependent on the uptake of sugars and other nutrients via these transporter systems in order to be able to grow rapidly. A possible strategy for cancer treatment therefore would be to block these transporters in the cell membrane, thus starving out and killing the cancer cells. Our structures can be used for initial structure based drug design studies to develop efficient and specific inhibitors against members of the GLUT family. We believe that our detailed mechanistic insights could become the basis for new strategies to fight cancer cells.
25 Apr Analyzing excess mortality from cancer among individuals with mental illness
Posted at 01:29h
in Author Interviews, Cancer Research, Case Western, Cleveland Clinic, Mental Health Research
MedicalResearch.com: eInterview with Siran M. Koroukian, Ph.D.
Population Health and Outcomes Research Core,
Clinical & Translational Science Collaborative
Associate Professor Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics
School of Medicine Case Western Reserve University
Cleveland, OH 44106-7281
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study?
Dr. Koroukian: Among individuals who died of cancer, those with mental illness (MI) died an average of 10 years earlier than those without MI.
Overall, there was excess mortality from cancer associated with having mental illness in all the race/sex strata: SMR, 2.16 (95% CI, 1.85-2.50) for black men; 2.63 (2.31-2.98) for black women; 3.89 (3.61-4.19) for nonblack men; and 3.34 (3.13-3.57) for nonblack women.
We note statistically significant higher SMRs for every anatomic cancer site in nonblack men and women and for most cancer sites in black men and women.
23 Apr Symptomatic reduction in free testosterone levels secondary to crizotinib use in male cancer patients.
MedicalResearch.com eInterview with Andrew Weickhardt, MBBS, DMedSc, FRACP MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Weickhardt: The study was hoping to confirm our earlier published observation that crizotinib use led to low testosterone in male patients. The earlier study was based on our observation of symptoms of low testosterone in some patients treated with the drug, and had suggested strongly that crizotinib led to rapid decrease in testosterone levels, however this was based only on a single center's patients, and only 19 patients. We hoped to do this by surveying a larger population of crizotinib treated patients across multiple institutions. We serially measured several relevant hormones.12 Apr Amiodarone and the Risk of Cancer – A Nationwide Population-Based Study
MedicalResearch.com eInterview with Vincent Yi-Fong Su MD Department of Chest Medicine, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Answer: Amiodarone, one of the most widely used medications to treat arrhythmias may increase the risk of developing cancer, especially in men and people exposed to high amounts of the drug. That is the conclusion of a new retrospective study published early online in CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society. Patients who were male or who received high cumulative daily doses of amiodarone within the first year had an increased risk of developing cancer. Those with both factors were 46 percent more likely to develop cancer than those with neither factor.03 Apr Genome-wide reprogramming of the chromatin landscape underlies endocrine therapy resistance in breast cancer
MedicalResearch.com eInterview with Dr. Mathieu Lupien PhD
Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, University Health Network
Ontario Cancer Institute (OCI)
Assistant Professor
Department of Medical Biophysics
University of Toronto
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study?
Dr. Lupien: Approximately 50% of breast cancer patients fail to respond to the standard of care based on endocrine (hormonal) therapy. Our research identifies a mechanism that accounts for this resistance. Drugs against this mechanism are already tested for other diseases. Hence, our discovery should rapidly help reposition these drugs against endocrine therapy resistant breast cancer.
02 Apr Pathway-based personalized analysis of cancer
MedicalResearch.com Author Interview: Prof. Eytan Domany
Department of Physics of Complex Systems and Department of Biological Regulation, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, 76100, Israel
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study?
Prof. Domany: The findings are two-fold: methodological and clinical. A novel method was introduced for personalized analysis of cancer, and was applied on large colon cancer and glioblastoma datasets.
The method uses high throughput (gene expression) data to infer a pathway deregulation score (PDS) for individual tumors, for hundreds of pathways and biological processes. The method is knowledge-based in that it uses well known information about the assignment of genes to biologically relevant pathways. No detailed knowledge of the underlying networks of interactions and activations is necessary. Each tumor is represented by a few hundred of these PDSs, and further analysis uses this representation.
01 Apr Time to First Cigarette and 4-(Methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-Pyridyl)-1-Butanol (NNAL) Levels in Adult Smokers; National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), 2007–2010
MedicalResearch.com Author Interview:
Dr. Steven A. Branstetter, PhD
The Pennsylvania State University, 315 E. HHD, University Park, PA 16810.
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study?
Dr. Branstetter: This study demonstrated that the time to the first cigarette of the day after waking is associated with increased levels of a NNAL, a metabolite of a powerful tobacco-specific carcinogen, NNK -- even after controlling for the total number of cigarettes smoked per day.
For years, the time to the first cigarette of the day after waking was one of several questions assessing nicotine dependence on the Fagerstrom Test for Nicotine Dependence (FTND), the gold standard questionnaire int he field. Over time, it was found that much of the predictive validity of the FTND was due to the time to first cigarette item. Researchers have found that single time to first cigarette item was highly correlated with other measures of nicotine dependence, and was predictive of more difficulty quitting smoking and increased intake of nicotine. Our current study demonstrates that this behavioral measure, is predictive of exposure to the cancer-causing components of cigarettes, regardless of the total number of cigarettes smoked per day. The results suggest that researchers, clinicians and smokers can assess the level of nicotine dependence and potential cancer risk by looking at the time to the first cigarette of the day after waking.
30 Mar Cancer Survivors in the United States: Prevalence across the Survivorship Trajectory and Implications for Care
Posted at 21:57h
in Cancer Research
MedicalResearch.com Interview with Janet S. de Moor, PhD, MPH
Program Director, Office of Cancer Survivorship
Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences
National Cancer Institute/National Institutes of Health
Bethesda, MD 20891-8336
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study?
Dr. de Moor: The number of people who have been diagnosed with cancer during their lifetime has been steadily increasing. As of January 1, 2012, approximately 13.7 million cancer survivors were living in the United States with projected prevalence to approach 18 million by 2022. Women with breast cancer and men with prostate cancer represent the two largest groups of cancer survivors, accounting for 22% and 20% of the population respectively. Sixty-four percent of cancer survivors have survived 5 years or more; 40% have survived 10 years or more; and 15% have survived 20 years or more after diagnosis. Over the next decade, the number of people who have lived 5 years or more after their cancer diagnosis is projected to increase approximately 37% to 11.9 million.
28 Mar Predictors of depression in breast cancer patients treated with radiation: Role of prior chemotherapy and nuclear factor kappa B
Posted at 13:40h
in Author Interviews, Breast Cancer, Cancer Research, Depression, Mental Health Research
MedicalResearch.com Interview with Mylin A. Torres, M.D.
Assistant Professor
Department of Radiation Oncology
Emory University School of Medicine
Atlanta, GA 30322
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study?
Dr. Torres: Radiation treatment for breast cancer is not associated with increased depressive symptoms, but of disease and treatment-related factors, prior chemotherapy treatment is a significant predictor of depression before and after radiation treatment. Prior chemotherapy treatment was associated with inflammatory mediators, including nuclear factor-kappa B DNA binding, soluble tumor necrosis factor-alpha receptor 2, and interleukin-6, which predicted for depressive symptoms after radiation on univariate analysis.
28 Mar Relationship of Early-Onset Baldness to Prostate Cancer in African-American Men
MEDICALRESEARCH.COM INTERVIEW WITH Charnita Zeigler-Johnson, Ph.D., M.P.H. Research Assistant Professor CCEB University of Pennsylvania MEDICALRESEARCH.COM: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Zeigler-Johnson: The main findings of the study are:- Younger African-American men diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer at an early age (under the age of 60) are more likely to have had a personal history of early-onset baldness (baldness by age 30.)
- For older patients, this is not necessarily the case, and future studies will need to focus on which factors place men in this age group at risk for prostate cancer.
23 Mar Novel Susceptibility Variants at 10p12.31-12.2 for Childhood Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia in Ethnically Diverse Populations
Posted at 03:16h
in Author Interviews, Duke, Genetic Research, Leukemia, MD Anderson, UT Southwestern
MedicalResearch.com Author Interview: Jun J. Yang, Ph.D.
Assistant Member Dept. of Pharm. Sci.
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
262 Danny Thomas Pl., MS313 Memphis, TN 38105
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study?
Dr. Yang: We performed a comprehensive survey of inherited genetic variations for their contribution to the susceptibility of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), the most common cancer in children. This is by far the largest study of its kind (in terms of the number of subjects involved), and also the first one to include multi-ethnic populations. We identified 4 genomic loci related to the predisposition to ALL, 2 of which contributed to racial differences in the incidence of ALL. This study provided unequivocal evidence for inherited susceptibility of childhood ALL and pointed to novel biology of the pathogenesis of this disease.
20 Mar Short Telomere Length, Cancer Survival, and Cancer Risk in 47102 Individuals
MedicalResearch.com Interview with Stig E. Bojesen
Staff specialist, MD, PhD, DMSci
Dept. of Clinical Biochemistry, Copenhagen University Hospital
Herlev Hospital DK-2730 Herlev Denmark
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study?
15 Mar Regional Variation in Spending and Survival for Older Adults With Advanced Cancer
MedicalResearch.com Interview with Gabriel Brooks MD
Fellow, Medical Oncology
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study?
Dr. Brooks: First, we found that there is substantial regional variation in Medicare spending for patients with advanced cancer. For patients with a new diagnosis of advanced stage cancer, spending in the six months following diagnosis varied by 32% between regions in the highest and lowest quintiles of spending. And for patients who died from cancer, spending in the last six months of life varied by 41% between the highest and lowest spending regions.
Second, we tested the association between area-level spending and survival from the time of advanced cancer diagnosis. We found that there was no consistent association between increasing spending and survival for any of the five cancer sites included in our study (non-small cell lung cancer, colorectal cancer, pancreas cancer, breast cancer and prostate cancer).
08 Mar Selection Criteria for Lung-Cancer Screening
Medical Research.com
Author Interview: Dr. Martin C. Tammemägi
Professor (Epidemiology) Brock University
Department of Community Health Sciences
St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada L2S 3A1
Medical Research.com What are the main findings of the study?
Dr. Tammemägi: Our study accomplished three things:
1. We presented an updated Lung Cancer Risk Prediction Model, which compared to our previously JNCI-published model, incorporates more predictors but is simpler to use because we changed the way we modeled nonlinear effects.
2. We demonstrated that using the Lung Cancer Risk Prediction Model to select individuals for lung cancer screening was much more effective than using the National Lung Screening Trial (NLST) enrolment criteria. 41.3% fewer lung cancers were missed. Sensitivity and positive predictive value of identifying individuals who develop lung cancer were significantly improved. Shortly after our NEJM paper was published, Ma et al published in CANCER their findings that 8.6 million Americans are NLST-criteria positive and if they were CT screened under ideal conditions 12,000 lung cancer deaths would be averted. Our NEJM article findings indicate that an additional 2,764 lives would be saved if the selection criteria had enrolled 8.6 million individuals for screening based on highest risk by our Lung Cancer Risk Prediction Model.
3. Importantly, using NLST data we demonstrated that the beneficial effect of CT screening did not vary by model predicted lung cancer risk.