3 Clinical Trials for Various Conditions
The goal of this project is to improve lung cancer screening in high-risk individuals by identifying biomarkers of preclinical disease and disease risk that are measured in minimally invasive and non-invasive biospecimens. Existing biomarkers for lung cancer diagnosis as well as new biomarkers discovered specifically in this clinical setting will be examined. Biomarkers that identify individuals at highest risk for being diagnosed with lung cancer prior to the appearance of concerning symptoms could increase the utility of lung cancer surveillance and the efficiency of lung cancer chemoprevention clinical trials. Achieving these goals would improve the detection and treatment of early stage and incipient lung cancer, while restricting the risk of these procedures to those individuals who currently exhibit the early molecular warning signs of impending disease.
RATIONALE: Diagnostic procedures such as chest x-ray and chest CT scans may be effective in early detection of lung cancer. PURPOSE: Randomized clinical trial to compare the effectiveness of a chest CT scan given once a year with that of a chest x-ray given once a year in detecting lung cancer in patients at a high-risk of developing lung cancer.
Lung cancer is the number one cancer killer in the USA. Early stage lung cancer is asymptomatic. Most patients with lung cancer are usually symptomatic at diagnosis and already have advanced stage disease. Low dose CT screening (LDCT) for high risk individuals has recently been shown to decrease lung cancer mortality by 20%. However, 4 out of 5 lung cancer deaths are not prevented with LDCT screening alone.