Now, there’s hope. In a paper published last week in the British journal Lancet, researchers showed that annual screening with a high-tech imaging technique called low-radiation-dose computed tomography–low-dose CT–detected cancer far earlier than a chest X-ray. The researchers looked at 1,000 men and women over 60 who had smoked at least a pack of cigarettes a day for 10 years. CT spotted suspicious nodules in 233 people; X-ray caught them in only 68. And CT found malignant tumors in 27 people compared with the four seen on X-rays. Even better, of the 27 malignancies, 26 were surgically removable.
Right now, the charge for a low-dose CT is about $300, twice as much as a chest X-ray, and they’re not available at all hospitals. But if demand for CTs rises, the cost could come down as more facilities open. Those ugly numbers may yet turn around.
