Author Interviews, Lung Cancer, Radiology / 19.03.2015

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Prof. Dr. Nikolaus Becker Epidemiologisches Krebsregister Baden-Württemberg Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum Heidelberg Germany Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Prof. Becker: Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in our Western countries as well as worldwide. One reason is that it is clinically diagnosed mostly in an advanced stage with a poor five-year survival of less than 10%. Diagnosed at an early stage, more than 70% would survive 5 years. For low dose-multislice CT (MSCT) indications exist that it is able to detect lung cancers early. As every newly upcoming screening tool, it has to be carefully analyzed whether it is really able to decrease the mortality from lung cancers and at which costs in terms of undesired side effects such as false-positive findings and overdiagnosis. Our results indicate that spontaneous MSCT screening with changing doctors might be ineffective due to many false-positive alarms; if screening then within an organizational framework. (more…)
Annals Internal Medicine, Author Interviews, Lung Cancer, NIH, Radiology / 13.02.2015

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Paul F. Pinsky, PhD MPH Acting Chief Early Detection Research Group National Cancer Institute Bethesda, MD, 20892 Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: The National Lung Screening Trial (NLST) reported, in 2011, a 20% reduction in lung cancer mortality with low-dose CT screening. However, there was a high false positive rate, around 25% in the first two screening rounds, and somewhat lower in the final round. In order to reduce the high false positive rate, and also to standardize the reported system for low-dose CT screening, analogous to the use of BIRADS for mammography screening, the American College of Radiology (ACR) developed the Lung-RADS classification system. It was released in May, 2014. Although it was developed based on published summary data from several studies, including the NLST, it was never applied to a large group of screened subjects on an individual basis. Therefore, we retrospectively applied Lung-RADS to previously collected, detailed screening data from the National Lung Screening Trial . The major findings were that the false positive rate decreased very substantially using Lung-RADS instead of the original National Lung Screening Trial criteria. At the baseline screen, it decreased by 50% and at subsequent screens it decreased by 75%. There was also, however, a modest decrease in the sensitivity rate, from 93% to 85% at baseline and from 93% to 79% at subsequent screens. (more…)
Author Interviews, Dartmouth, Lung Cancer, NEJM / 07.11.2014

William C. Black, MD Professor of Radiology Department of Radiology Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center Lebanon, NH 03756MedicalResearch.com Interview with: William C. Black, MD Professor of Radiology Department of Radiology Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center Lebanon, NH 03756 Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Black: Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer related death in the U.S., killing more people than cancers of the colon, breast, and prostate combined. In 2011, the National Lung Screening Trial (NLST) demonstrated that screening for lung cancer with low-dose CT could reduce lung cancer mortality by 20% in adults at high risk for the disease. Since then, several medical organizations have recommended that eligible adults be offered screening. The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) released a grade B recommendation for low-dose CT screening in December 2012, which means that private insurers must cover the cost of screening by January 1, 2015. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) is expected to issue a final decision on national coverage for CT screening in February 2015 and a preliminary decision for public comment on November 10, 2014. (more…)