In September 2002, the National Cancer Institute (NCI) launched the largest lung cancer screening study ever undertaken. Called the National Lung Screening Trial (NLST), the study is seeking 50,000 current and former smokers to determine if screening people with either spiral computerized tomography (CT) or chest X-ray before they have symptoms can reduce deaths from lung cancer.

BenchMarks talked with the directors of NLST to get an overview of the study and what can be learned from it.

The National Cancer Institute (NCI) is capitalizing on other technologies besides imaging to look for ways to screen people who are at high risk for developing lung cancer.

The estimated 90 million current and former smokers in this country make up the biggest population at risk for lung cancer. But even if all smokers quit today, there would still be lung cancer cases for 50 years due to the damage already caused. Currently, less than 30 percent of lung cancers are diagnosed at an early stage, when conventional wisdom suggests they ought to be more curable. Because spiral computerized tomography (CT) detects smaller lesions than X-rays, some scientists believe it will catch tumors before they spread outside the lung.