Screening for lung cancer: challenges for the thoracic surgeon.
Review
Overview
abstract
Lung cancer is a global health burden and is among the most common and deadly of all malignancies worldwide. Early detection of resectable and potentially curable disease may reduce the overall death rate from lung cancer. However, at the present time, screening for lung cancer is not recommended by most clinical societies and health care agencies in the United States. This article discusses the history of, and rationale for, lung cancer screening, addresses optimization of screening protocols, and describes our current approach for the evaluation of small pulmonary nodules referred for surgical management.