Lung Screening Feasibility Study (LSS)

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The Lung Screening Study (LSS), a 1-year special project of the Prostate, Colorectal, Lung, and Ovarian (PLCO) Cancer Screening Trial, compared the ability of single-view X-ray and low-dose spiral computed tomography (LDCT) screening to detect lung cancer in smokers or former smokers between the ages of 55 and 74. Initial data from the LSS convincingly demonstrated the feasibility of carrying out the National Lung Screening Trial, an ongoing randomized controlled clinical trial to compare low-dose spiral CT and chest X-ray for the detection of lung cancer.

The LSS randomized 3,318 participants at six PLCO Screening Centers between September 1 and November 15, 2000 to spiral CT or X-ray. These participants received either a spiral CT or chest X-ray upon entry and, if not diagnosed with cancer, a second screening test one year later. Data from the initial screening tests, published in the July 2004 issue of CHEST [link to Pub Med] showed that 325 participants receiving a LDCT had a positive test requiring medical followup; after further testing 30 were found to have lung cancer. Of those receiving a chest X-ray, 152 people had a positive test and required followup and 7 were found to have lung cancer. The study does not evaluate if this cancer detection will reduce cancer mortality.

The PLCO study centers who participated in LSS are: Washington University, St. Louis, MO; University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN; Henry Ford Health System, Detroit MI; Georgetown University, Washington, DC; Marshfield Clinical Research Foundation, Marshfield, WI; and University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL.