Screening for lung cancer: We still need to know more

摘要

The holy grail for a screening test is that it discovers more cancers in the screened arm than in the control; that those cancers are of an earlier stage and there is, as a consequence, a stage shift towards lower stage cancers compared with the control group; that the test is acceptable to, basically, healthy individuals with low risks of serious side effects resulting from tests following a positive screen; and that the cost of a life saved, or a quality-adjusted life-year (QALY) is acceptable to the economy of the day.