[Early detection of bronchial carcinoma by annual mass X ray screening (author's transl)]

Further investigations of the study group for the early detection of lung cancer in the GDR have confirmed previous conclusions that annual x-ray screening of the chest significantly improves the results of surgical treatment of cancer of the lung. The study now covers 15,336 cases operated upon between 1949 and 1976. Two thirds of all cases treated surgically in the period from 1963 to 1972 were detected by roentgenologic screening. In the screening group the 5-year survival rates after resection were more favourable than in the clinical group: 36% in 1,915 screening cases and 29% in 785 clinical cases in the period from 1965 to 1968. The percentage of peripheral lesions which were treated by lobectomy was significantly higher in the screening group. Since the introduction of a biannual mode of screening, the overall results have worsened because the number of cases detected by x-ray screening has decreased.