Study confirms benefits of low-dose spiral CT scans for lung cancer detection

The Bonnie J. Addario Lung Cancer Foundation (BJALCF) and the Addario Lung Cancer Medical Institute (ALCMI) congratulate the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and Harold Varmus, MD, NCI Director, for proving a 20 percent mortality benefit for those at risk for lung cancer

The New England Journal of Medicine's (NEJM) headline today read, "Reduced Lung Cancer Mortality with Low-Dose Computed Tomographic CT Screening," ending a long controversy over the use of an existing but underutilized early detection tool for those at risk for Lung Cancer. Preliminary results of the National Lung Screening Trial (NLST) were first released on November 4, 2010 and confirmed today. The study of more than 53,000 people who either once smoked or currently smoked found there were 20 percent fewer deaths among those who underwent annual screening with a scanning procedure known as a low-dose helical computed tomography (CT) compared with those who got standard chest X-rays.

The findings were so striking that the National Cancer Institute, which helped sponsor the study, halted the eight-year trial early after a panel of experts notified officials about the clear results of an interim analysis and Dr. Varmus released the preliminary results immediately. "Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer mortality in the U.S. and throughout the world, so a validated approach that can reduce lung cancer mortality by even 20 percent has the potential to spare very significant numbers of people from the ravages of this disease," said Varmus.

The long-anticipated results were in concert with what the Bonnie J. Addario Lung Cancer Foundation has advocated since its inception, in March 2006.

Bonnie J. Addario, Founder of BJALCF and ALCMI, commented, "This is fantastic news. We knew this, and generated long overdue attention with our national PUBLIC AWARENESS CAMPAIGN to Demand a CT Scan, and our Comprehensive Lung Cancer Screening Program four years ago, which fueled this conversation. Today's NLST study results support and confirm our intellectual, scientific, personal and practical mission to significantly increase the survival rate for Lung Cancer for the first time in forty years."

"This is a landmark study and a landmark day for millions of people at risk for Lung Cancer," said David Jablons, MD, Professor and Chief of Thoracic Surgery, University of California San Francisco (UCSF) and co-founder of the Bonnie J. Addario Lung Cancer Foundation (BJALCF). "This study vindicates numerous pioneering investigators worldwide who have advocated for the utility and benefit of low-dose spiral CT scans for the early detection of Lung Cancer. The results announced today in the New England Journal of Medicine lay to rest the question of using the low-dose spiral CT scan for the at-risk population. CT scans can save lives. It is our hope that third-party payors and insurers will embrace these results which will lead to more screening, a new standard of care and most important, saving lives."

Scott Santarella, BJALCF's President and CEO, former President and CEO of the American Lung Cancer Association in New York and former COO of the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation (MMRF) and Multiple Myeloma Research Consortium (MMRC), stated, "Today's announcement validates our belief in utilizing the tools available to the lung cancer community to diagnosis patients as early as possible because we know it saves lives."

Bonnie J. Addario is a seven-year Stage IIIB CT-scanned Lung Cancer Survivor. She, BJALCF and ALCMI will be presenting at the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) 14th Annual World Conference in Amsterdam on July 5, 2011. BJALCF and ALCMI are the only non-profit lung cancer foundations ever to have been invited as guests to present a Satellite Symposium at an IASLC World Conference. The Symposium is entitled, "The Way Forward."