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Study calls for CT scans for asymptomatic exsmokers

Respiratory Care Weekly, February 22, 2006

Even asymptomatic former smokers should get lung computed tomography images (cat scans) for cancer screening, according to the February 13 Archives of Internal Medicine. While previous research showed the technology to work as an early-detection tool, this large study-examining almost 30,000 people-says that more cancer can be found in time by widening the patient pool.

Furthermore, the researchers found that, the smaller the lung cancer tumor found in asymptomatic patients, the less likely it is to have spread. This seems to be the case for both small-cell cancers and their less aggressive large-cell counterparts.

"The smaller the lung cancer is at diagnosis, the more likely it is to be stage 1 and curable," says lead author Claudia Henschke MD, PhD, principal investigator of the International Early Lung Cancer Action Project and chief of the chest imaging division at New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell.

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