Report: U.K. lung screening study is catching cancers early

Initial results from a CT lung cancer screening study sponsored by the U.K. National Health Service (NHS) show that low-dose CT exams could detect 70% of lung cancers at stage I or II, according to a report in the Guardian.

The SUMMIT study's principal investigator, Dr. Sam Janes of the University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (UCLH), told the Guardian that the results represent "a major breakthrough for lung cancer."

"These initial findings, which will be peer-reviewed for publication in a research journal later in the year, highlight the benefits of lung cancer screening for detecting and treating the disease at early stage," UCLH wrote in a post on its website.

Based on these results, CT lung cancer screening could lead to 25% fewer men and 30%-50% fewer women dying from lung cancer, said Dr. Robert Rintoul of the UK Lung Cancer Coalition in the Guardian article. The coalition very much hopes now that a CT lung cancer screening program will be introduced in England, according to Rintoul, who is chair of the coalition's clinical advisory group.

Launched in early 2019, the SUMMIT study aims to detect lung cancer earlier among at-risk Londoners, support the development of a new blood test for early detection of multiple cancers and provide evidence to inform a potential national lung cancer screening program, according to the University College London (UCL) and the University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.