Studies seek to optimize lung screening by monitoring incidentally detected nodules, delaying some repeat scans, and balancing false positives against delayed diagnosis.

Two large-scale, randomized controlled trials—the U.S. National Lung Screening Trial (NLST; n = 53,454) and the Dutch–Belgian Randomized Lung Cancer Screening Trial (NELSON; n = 15,792)—have demonstrated that lung cancer screening (LCS) with low-dose CT substantially reduces lung cancer mortality in a high-risk population.1,2 Despite the conclusive evidence for the effectiveness of LCS, national data…

Thousands of Americans each year learn that CT chest screening has identified nodules on their lungs and, as a result, they often experience distress, fear, and confusion about their cancer risk, which may be compounded by miscommunications with their providers. Theresa Roelke, MSN, APRN-AGPCNP, a nurse practitioner who specializes in geriatrics and manages the lung…

Between 60% and 65% of patients with lung cancer receive their diagnoses at stage III or IV, meaning that one-third are unaware of their disease when radical surgery, either alone or with adjuvant therapy, could be curative. But what if those numbers were reversed? Pursuing the widespread use of low-dose CT screening to make early…