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CT scans promote early lung cancer detection

Respiratory Care Weekly, November 1, 2006

Lung-cancer patients who received an early diagnosis via computed tomography (CT) scan had a 10-year survival rate of 92%, fueling the movement toward using the scans as a diagnostic tool, according to the October 26 New England Journal of Medicine. The ongoing, long-term study conducted at New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center involves more than 30,000 patients, from which 484 lung-cancer diagnoses arose.

Among the people in the study, CT screening detected 412 of whom had Stage I lung cancer. Of the Stage I patients who chose not to be treated, all died within five years. The participants were 40 years old and older and at risk for lung cancer because of a history of cigarette smoking; occupational exposure to asbestos, beryllium, uranium, or radon; or exposure to secondhand smoke, according to the Journal.

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