Should we screen for lung cancer in Australia?

Hew, Mark; Stirling, Robert G; Abramson, Michael J

doi:10.5694/mja13.10439

Topics

Neoplasms

Environment and public health

Respiratory tract diseases

Systematic screening reduces mortality, but is it the best way to go?

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in Australia. Late diagnosis of advanced disease contributes to the poor 13% 5-year survival rate associated with lung cancer. However, the recently updated United States National Lung Screening Trial (NLST) showed a 20% survival benefit from early detection with low-dose computed tomography (CT) screening.1,2 In light of these results, should people in Australia at high risk of lung cancer now undergo screening?

1 Allergy, Asthma and Clinical Immunology Service, The Alfred, Melbourne, VIC.
2 School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, The Alfred Centre, Melbourne, VIC.

Correspondence: m.hew@alfred.org.au

Competing interests:

Michael Abramson has received a grant from Pfizer for an unrelated investigator-initiated study.

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