X-longen als screen tegen CA helpt niet

De craze van je laten screenen net zoals een auto, voor de jaarlijkse onderhoudsbeurt is vaak zinloos. Je vindt van alles en het helpt eigenlijk niets. Of je vindt niets terwijl er wel wat aan de hand is. Nu toonden Amerikaanse artsen aan dat jaarlijks een longfoto niet helpt om te voorkomen te sterven aan longkanker. Dus gelukkig weer een overbodig onderzoek doorboord. Dat doen we dus niet meer. 

Patients who received annual chest radiography for 4 years were no less likely to die of lung cancer than those who received usual care, according to findings from a large randomized trial published online today in JAMA. In an accompanying editorial, Harold C. Sox, MD, said the study may put to rest questions about the value of such screening.

Het was een grote studie, dus de uitkomst kunnen we ter harte nemen:

For more than 40 years, a debate has raged about whether chest radiography could help reduce lung cancer mortality by allowing earlier detection and treatment. Although several randomized trials, including some conducted in the 1970s and 1980s, found no benefit, because the studies were small or had other limitations, the question has lingered.

The new findings are from the Prostate, Lung, Colorectal, and Ovarian Cancer (PLCO) Screening Trial, which enrolled 154 901 individuals who were randomly assigned to receive either annual screening for lung cancer with radiography for 4 years or usual care and were subsequently followed up for more than a decade. 

“The [study] result provides convincing evidence that lung cancer screening with chest radiography is not effective,” Sox said. 

Bron: JAMA, October 26, 2011 Using Annual Chest X-Rays to Screen for Lung Cancer Doesn’t Reduce Mortality by Bridget M. Kuehn