The study doesn’t account for the impact that a higher frequency of screening and follow-up would have on individuals’ quality of life. In addition, the assumptions for follow-up procedures were based on data from the NLST and might not be generalizable to a population setting.

With regard to the optimal frequency of lung cancer screening, recent studies have had mixed results. A study published in the American Journal of Managed Care last March examined the records of 19,066 patients from the NLST and found that annual screening may not be beneficial for patients who have had an initial negative scan.


However, a study published in PLOS One last August found that yearly low-dose CT screening is necessary for those at high risk of lung cancer. The researchers used data from the NLST to determine the outcomes of patients who were screened with LDCT after 12 months and then after 24 months.

Those who had a negative initial screening, but tested positive for lung cancer after 12 or 24 months, had higher mortality rates compared to those who have a positive initial screen. The researchers concluded that these findings underscore the importance of screening high-risk patients on a continuous basis.

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