[Screening for lung cancer. Promising results with low-dose CT]

Low-radiation-dose computed tomography (low-dose CT) is a new, promising technology presently used in screening for lung cancer in some medical centres in the USA and Japan. The three population-based studies of the efficacy of screening with low-dose CT published to date all show that more than 85% of the lung cancers detected by low-dose CT are in stage I, offering improved possibility for curative treatment. The number of false positive scans, was up to 20%. The radiation dose per low-dose CT scan was approximately the dose of a mammography (1 mSv). In two studies, low-dose CT failed to detect some centrally located tumours. None of the studies are capable of evaluating changes in lung cancer mortality in a screened population compared to those of a control population. There is, therefore, a need for further assessments of positive as well as negative effects of population-based screening with low-dose CT.