AJR 2002; 179:833-836.
Swensen SJ.
When epidemiologists, ethicists, radiologists, smokers, venture capitalists, entrepreneurs, lung cancer advocates, the tobacco industry, CT manufacturers, and insurance companies look at the possibilities for CT screening, all have different images, visions, and visceral reactions. The use of CT screening has clearly caught the attention of America. I would like to present one perspective based on several years of study.
I will briefly review results from my institution from more than 4500 patient-years of scanning in a hypothesis-driven scientific setting at our institution. I will look at reasons for optimism and reasons for doubt that CT screening for lung cancer will ultimately save lives (i.e., reduce disease-specific mortality). I will also touch briefly on the ancillary findings among our participants and explore the concept of comprehensive, full-body CT screening.
In the early 1900s, lung cancer was a rare occurrence. It was not until the 1930s and 1940s that it showed up on the radar screen, so to speak, and today it is unfortunately the most common cause of cancer deaths among both men and women. We cannot lose sight of the fact that smoking causes lung cancer, and the best cure for lung cancer is prevention.
In fact, smoking causes more deaths than AIDS, alcohol, drug abuse, car crashes, murders, suicides, and fires combined. It accounts for one of every five deaths in the United States—430,700 deaths per year.