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. 2024 Jul;15(19):1522-1532.
doi: 10.1111/1759-7714.15383. Epub 2024 May 27.

Screening for lung cancer using thin-slice low-dose computed tomography in southwestern China: a population-based real-world study

Jiaxuan Wu  1   2   3 , Ruicen Li  4 , Huohuo Zhang  1   2   3 , Qian Zheng  5 , Wenjuan Tao  6 , Ming Yang  7   8 , Yuan Zhu  4 , Guiyi Ji  4 , Weimin Li  1   2   3   9   10   11
Affiliations

Screening for lung cancer using thin-slice low-dose computed tomography in southwestern China: a population-based real-world study

Jiaxuan Wu et al. Thorac Cancer. 2024 Jul.

Abstract

Objectives: Lung cancer is one of the most common malignant tumors threatening human life and health. At present, low-dose computed tomography (LDCT) screening for the high-risk population to achieve early diagnosis and treatment of lung cancer has become the first choice recommended by many authoritative international medical organizations. To further optimize the lung cancer screening method, we conducted a real-world study of LDCT lung cancer screening in a large sample of a healthy physical examination population, comparing differences in lung nodules and lung cancer detection between thin and thick-slice LDCT scanning.

Methods: A total of 29 296 subjects who underwent low-dose thick-slice CT scanning (5 mm thickness) from January 2015 to December 2015 and 28 058 subjects who underwent low-dose thin-slice CT scanning (1 mm thickness) from January 2018 to December 2018 in West China Hospital were included. The positive detection rate, detection rate of lung cancer, pathological stage of lung cancer, and mortality rate of lung cancer were analyzed and compared between the two groups.

Results: The positive rate of LDCT screening in the thin-slice scanning group was significantly higher than that in the thick-slice scanning group (20.1% vs. 14.4%, p < 0.001). In addition, the lung cancer detection rate in the thin-slice LDCT screening positive group was significantly higher than that in the thick-slice scanning group (78.0% vs. 52.9%, p < 0.001).

Conclusions: The screening positive rate of low-dose thin-slice CT scanning is higher and more early-stage lung cancer (IA1 stage) can be detected in the screen-positive group.

Keywords: early diagnosis; low‐dose computed tomography; lung cancer; pulmonary nodule; thin slice scan.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Flowchart of study participants. The participants who underwent low‐dose computed tomography (CT) in the health examination center of West China Hospital of Sichuan University were included.
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Cumulative number of lung cancers. The number of lung cancer patients showed an increasing trend over time.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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