Should I be screened for lung cancer with CT?

A low radiation dose CT of the lungs has been shown to be the most effective way to prevent death from lung cancer (apart from stopping smoking).

When used for the right patients at subspecialist centres such scans have been shown to reduce the risk by approximately 1/3. As such, there is great interest in this test and in many places, such as the United States, the test is widely used. In Australia we are typically more conservative about our recommendations for screening with imaging and we are awaiting further information about the appropriateness and cost-effectiveness of this scan before recommending widespread screening.

If and when our local medical authorities approve of lung cancer screening with low dose CT it is likely ChestRad will be regarded as a centre of excellence on the back of our experience, close relationship with respiratory physicians and surgeons and scientific interest and accomplishments in this field. Presently, ChestRad (in accordance with the recommendations of the Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand) does not recommend lung cancer screening for all but a select number of patients. We advise you to ignore the broad advertisements for this service and instead seek guidance from your GP.