Lung cancer detected during a screening program using four-month chest radiographs.

Abstract

Ninety-two lung cancers were detected in the Mayo Lung Project in patients undergoing chest radiography every four months for screening. Fifty patients had a peripheral nodule, 16 had a perihilar nodule, 20 had hilar or mediastinal enlargement, and six had pneumonitis. The peripheral cancers grew slowly. Ninety per cent were visible in retrospect for months or even years. Despite this, 70% of the peripheral cancers were classified as postsurgical American Joint Committee (AJC) Stage 1. The central cancers grew rapidly, usually presenting as hilar or mediastinal enlargements after normal findings on the previous radiograph obtained four months earlier. Most were classified as AJC Stage 3 tumors.

Innovative molecular and imaging approaches for the detection of lung cancer and its precursor lesions

“…Presumably, these tumours grew from a size that was below the resolution of the CT scan (1 -2 mm) to a readily detectable size in the interval. In the previous NCI chest X-ray screening studies, it was also observed that even with 4-monthly chest radiograph, 20% of the lung cancers were not visible in the prior examination (Muhm et al, 1983;Heelan et al, 1984). Thus, some lung cancers are rapidly growing, thereby escaping early detection and leading to the occurrence of symptomatic interval cancers in a screening programme.…”

Computer aided diagnosis in chest radiography

“…Early detection of lung tumors (visible on the chest film as nodules) may greatly increase the patient's chance of survival. Strikingly, retrospective studies showed that 90% of peripheral lung cancers were visible on earlier radiographs [186]. Therefore this problem has received a lot of attention and is the most studied problem in computer analysis of chest radiographs.…”

Protocolos de rastreamento para o diagnóstico precoce do câncer de pulmão: passado, presente e futuro

“…Radiografias do tórax vs. tomografia computadorizada helicoidal (51)(52)(53)(54)(55)(56) : Os estudos realizados no passado demonstraram as limitações da radiografia do tórax na identificação precoce de nódulos pulmonares. No Mayo Lung Project, em uma análise retrospectiva, 90% dos carcinomas periféricos e 75% dos peri-hilares, já estavam presentes em radiografias anteriores (51) .…”

“…No Mayo Lung Project, em uma análise retrospectiva, 90% dos carcinomas periféricos e 75% dos peri-hilares, já estavam presentes em radiografias anteriores (51) . Quekel et al (52) demonstraram que 19% dos casos de carcinomas perifé-ricos escaparam à identificação radiológica (diâmetro médio de 16mm).…”