Diagnosing early-stage lung cancer with low-dose computed tomography (CT) screening drastically improves the survival rate of cancer patients over a 20-year period, according to a large-scale international study presented by Mount Sinai researchers at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America.
The results show that patients diagnosed with lung cancer at an early stage via CT screening have a 20-year survival rate of 80 percent. The average five-year survival rate for all lung cancer patients is 18.6 percent because only 16 percent of lung cancers are diagnosed at an early stage. More than half of people with lung cancer die within one year of being diagnosed, making it the leading cause of cancer deaths. By the time symptoms appear, it is often too late.
The findings are the latest to demonstrate the importance of routine and early screening in detecting cancers when they are small enough to be cured by surgical removal. Unfortunately, fewer than 6 percent of the people eligible for screening get it.
While treatments of more advanced cancers with targeted therapy and immunotherapy have come a long way, the best tool against lung cancer deaths is early diagnosis through low-dose CT screening before symptoms occur, according to the study authors.
The study tracked the 20-year survival rate of 1,285 patients who were screened in the International Early Lung Cancer Action Program (I-ELCAP) and who were later diagnosed with early-stage lung cancer. While the overall survival of the participants was 80 percent, the survival rate for the 139 participants with nonsolid cancerous lung nodules and the 155 participants with nodules that had a partly solid consistency was 100 percent. For the 991 participants with solid nodules, the survival rate was 73 percent. For participants with Stage 1A cancers that measured 10 mm or less, the 20-year survival rate was 92 percent.
