Low-dose CT lung screening
A yearly low-radiation CT scan for current and former heavy smokers that finds lung cancer early enough to cure it.
Proven by NLST (20% mortality reduction) and NELSON (24% in men). US eligibility: age 50-80, ≥20 pack-years, quit <15 years. Uptake remains under 20% in the US and lower elsewhere; risk models (PLCOm2012), AI nodule scoring (Sybil, Optellum), and blood biomarkers aim to widen and sharpen eligibility. Lung-RADS standardises reporting; volumetric management (NELSON) reduces false positives.
How it works
Non-contrast helical CT at ~1-1.5 mSv; nodules classified by size, volume, growth, and morphology; AI assists detection and malignancy scoring.
- Only proven mortality-reducing intervention for lung cancer detection
- Also detects emphysema and coronary calcium
- Low uptake
- False positives and incidental findings
- Misses never-smoker adenocarcinomas (rising in East Asia, where risk-based screening is debated)
Lung screening works when it uses volumetric nodule management, and it works against a no-screening control. The protocol underpins the UK Targeted Lung Health Check programme and European recommendations. Benefit in women remains less precisely estimated.
For people with a heavy smoking history, an annual low-dose CT scan is one of the few screening tests proven to reduce cancer deaths. Most abnormal scans are not cancer, so screening must be paired with careful nodule management. It does not apply to never-smokers or light smokers.
Latest papers
topQuery for this technology: (TITLE:"Low-dose CT lung screening" OR ABSTRACT:"Low-dose CT lung screening") AND (cancer OR tumor OR tumour OR oncology OR carcinoma OR lymphoma OR leukemia OR leukaemia OR myeloma OR sarcoma OR melanoma OR glioma). Results are unfiltered search hits about Low-dose CT lung screening, not a curated reading list.
Pages like this
not linked directly; found by shared links- IdeaLung screening eligibility by risk score, not pack-years, including high-risk never-smokers
Shares NELSON: volume-based CT screening reduces lung cancer deaths with fewer false alarms, NLST: yearly low-dose CT scans cut lung cancer deaths in heavy smokers, CT (computed tomography), Most lethal cancers are found late.
- IdeaEvery routine CT scan checked by AI for early cancer signs, with a tracked follow-up pathway
Shares CT (computed tomography), AI in radiology, Overdiagnosis and false alarms, Most lethal cancers are found late.
- IdeaTake lung screening scanners to supermarket car parks in the poorest areas
Shares NLST: yearly low-dose CT scans cut lung cancer deaths in heavy smokers, CT (computed tomography), Most lethal cancers are found late, Non-small-cell lung cancer.
- IdeaAI malignancy scores to end repeat scans and biopsies for benign lung nodules
Shares CT (computed tomography), AI in radiology, Overdiagnosis and false alarms, Non-small-cell lung cancer.
- Key paperMASAI: AI-supported mammography screening finds more cancers with half the radiologist workload
Shares Require stage-shift or interval-cancer endpoints for AI in cancer screening, AI in radiology, Overdiagnosis and false alarms, Most lethal cancers are found late.
- InstitutionInternational Association for the Study of Lung Cancer
Shares LUNGevity Foundation (and GO2 for Lung Cancer), CT (computed tomography), AI in radiology, Small-cell lung cancer.
- IdeaAI clears the normal lung screening scans so radiologists read only the suspicious ones
Shares CT (computed tomography), AI in radiology, Most lethal cancers are found late, Non-small-cell lung cancer.
- IdeaEvery lung screening visit includes stop-smoking medicine, opt-out
Shares Smoking cessation in cancer patients, CT (computed tomography), Non-small-cell lung cancer.