The Mortality Benefit of Screening Lung Cancer

The mortality benefit is there when screening starts at age 50 and is continued to at least 75 years of age. The major harm here is in the identification of non-malignant nodules, which are found in up to 40 percent of screening exams. Over diagnosis or detecting and treating a lung cancer that would not otherwise impacted well-being or mortality is also a concern. In the largest screening trial, nearly one in five tumors was estimated to be over diagnosed resulting in more than one over diagnosed lung cancer for every lung cancer death averted.