Lung cancer is the third leading cause of death after cardiovascular and cerebral diseases in Greece, accounting for more deaths than breast, colorectal and prostate cancer combined. Lung cancer is easier to treat when detected early. If lung cancer is diagnosed in the early stages before the disease spreads, five-year survival is more than 80%, while in the more advanced stages it is usually less than 25%.
Early diagnosis of lung cancer can save lives.
What is early detection of lung cancer?
The early detection of lung cancer includes methods which can identify the disease at a stage amenable to treatment with surgery or stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT). Besides the stage at which lung cancer is identified, various factors influence the prognosis of each patient, including the type of lung cancer, the patient’s overall health, and their response to treatment. Nevertheless, early-stage lung cancer offers a higher likelihood of successful treatment.
However, today, only 18% of lung cancer cases are detected while the tumor remains localized, known as stage I. The biggest challenge is that most lung cancer patients show symptoms only in the advanced stages of the disease. Lung cancer typically develops without raising suspicion and patients remain unaware until it progresses and spreads.
How can we detect lung cancer early?
Lung cancer can be detected early through screening.
Lung cancer screening is defined as screening for the disease before symptoms appear.
Examples of screening tests for cancer include mammography for breast cancer, colonoscopy for colorectal cancer and PAP and human papillomavirus (HPV) tests for cervical cancer.
For lung cancer, early detection is carried out by low-dose computed tomography (LDCT) (also called low-dose spiral CT or helical CT scan). LDCT has been shown to be effective for people in high-risk groups and is only recommended for these groups. The value of LDCT for high-risk individuals was documented by the National Lung Screening Trial (NLST) and was validated by the Nederlands-Leuvent Longkanker Screenings Onderzoek (NELSON) study.
LDCT is much more sensitive than chest X-ray and can detect smaller growths. Chest X-rays are not recommended for lung cancer screening because they often do not detect lung cancer at an early stage. The same is true for sputum cytology, a test that detects any changes in sputum cells.
