{"entity":{"id":"ukls","kind":"trial","name":"UKLS","aka":["UK Lung Cancer Screening trial","ISRCTN78513845"],"tldr":"The British pilot that showed a risk-model-selected CT scan finds lung cancer early, and whose long follow-up gave the mortality signal that helped justify a national programme.","summary":"UKLS approached 247,354 people, of whom 30.7 percent responded positively, and randomised 4,055 at high predicted risk to a single low-dose CT scan or to usual care. Of 1,994 scanned, 42 (2.1 percent) were diagnosed with lung cancer; 36 of those 42 (85.7 percent) were stage 1 or 2 and 35 (83.3 percent) had surgical resection as their primary treatment. Lung cancer was commoner in the lowest socioeconomic group, and the psychosocial harms of screening were reported as modest and temporary.\n\nAt a median 7.3 years of follow-up there were 30 lung cancer deaths in the screened arm against 46 in the control arm, a relative rate of 0.65 (95 percent confidence interval 0.41 to 1.02, p = 0.062), too small a trial to reach significance alone. Pooled with eight other randomised trials in a random-effects meta-analysis the relative rate was 0.84 (0.76 to 0.92), which the authors called unequivocal support for screening in identified risk groups. The trial also established that a risk model, rather than age and pack-years alone, is the practical way to choose who to invite, which is how the NHS programme now works.","status":"positive","asOf":"2026-09-25","links":[{"label":"Health Technology Assessment 2016","url":"https://europepmc.org/article/MED/27224642"},{"label":"Lancet Regional Health Europe 2021","url":"https://europepmc.org/article/MED/34806061"},{"label":"ISRCTN78513845","url":"https://www.isrctn.com/ISRCTN78513845"}],"tags":["uk","screening","lung"],"related":[],"cancers":["nsclc","lung-cancer"],"sections":["early-detection"],"technologies":["low-dose-ct-screening"],"targets":[],"drugs":[],"companies":[],"institutions":["liverpool-heart-and-chest","royal-papworth","roy-castle-lung-cancer-foundation"],"pathways":[],"terms":[],"trials":["nlst-nelson"],"people":["john-field","david-baldwin"],"bottlenecks":[],"keyPapers":[],"journals":[],"dependsOn":[],"notes":[],"nct":"ISRCTN78513845","phase":"3","setting":"A single low-dose CT scan against usual care in people aged 50 to 75 selected by the Liverpool Lung Project risk model version 2 at a five-year risk of 5 percent or more; delivered from Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital and Papworth Hospital, recruiting April 2011 to December 2012","sponsor":"Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen University Hospital Trust, funded by the NIHR Health Technology Assessment Programme and the Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation","result":"42 cancers in 1,994 people scanned, 85.7 percent at stage 1 or 2; lung cancer mortality relative rate 0.65 (0.41 to 1.02) at a median 7.3 years, and 0.84 (0.76 to 0.92) pooled with eight other trials.","yearReported":2021,"enrolled":4055,"enrolledBasis":"randomised","enrolledNote":"4,055 people were randomised against a target of 4,000; 247,354 were approached to find them.","outcomes":[{"endpoint":"Lung cancer mortality","primary":true,"unit":"relative rate","arms":[{"name":"Low-dose CT","n":1987,"value":0.65,"note":"30 deaths"},{"name":"Usual care","n":1981,"value":1,"note":"46 deaths"}],"ci":[0.41,1.02],"p":"0.062","source":"https://europepmc.org/article/MED/34806061"}]},"route":"/trials/ukls/","neighbours":{"cancer":[{"id":"lung-cancer","kind":"cancer","name":"Lung cancer (all types)","route":"/cancers/lung-cancer/"},{"id":"nsclc","kind":"cancer","name":"Non-small-cell lung cancer","route":"/cancers/nsclc/"}],"section":[{"id":"early-detection","kind":"section","name":"Early Detection & Screening","route":"/fronts/early-detection/"}],"technology":[{"id":"low-dose-ct-screening","kind":"technology","name":"Low-dose CT lung screening","route":"/technologies/low-dose-ct-screening/"}],"institution":[{"id":"liverpool-heart-and-chest","kind":"institution","name":"Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital NHS Foundation Trust","route":"/institutions/liverpool-heart-and-chest/"},{"id":"roy-castle-lung-cancer-foundation","kind":"institution","name":"Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation","route":"/institutions/roy-castle-lung-cancer-foundation/"},{"id":"royal-papworth","kind":"institution","name":"Royal Papworth Hospital NHS Foundation Trust","route":"/institutions/royal-papworth/"}],"trial":[{"id":"lungsearch","kind":"trial","name":"Lung-SEARCH","route":"/trials/lungsearch/"},{"id":"nlst-nelson","kind":"trial","name":"NLST & NELSON (low-dose CT screening)","route":"/trials/nlst-nelson/"},{"id":"summit-lung","kind":"trial","name":"SUMMIT (lung health check study)","route":"/trials/summit-lung/"},{"id":"ylst","kind":"trial","name":"YLST","route":"/trials/ylst/"}],"person":[{"id":"david-baldwin","kind":"person","name":"David Baldwin","route":"/people/david-baldwin/"},{"id":"john-field","kind":"person","name":"John Field","route":"/people/john-field/"}]}}