Lung cancer screening

Case study of a participant involved in the SUMMIT programme, from initial approach to diagnosis and treatment

Published on September 1, 2022

The SUMMIT study is the largest lung cancer screening study of its kind in the UK. The goal of the study is the early detection of lung cancer among asymptomatic individuals at risk and to assess the suitability of delivering a low-dose CT (LDCT) screening programme for lung cancer to a high-risk population1. The aim of this article is to understand the participant journey for an individual in a lung cancer screening study and to describe the scanning protocols.

Two landmark studies have demonstrated that screening asymptomatic individuals at high risk for lung cancer with LDCT improves lung-cancer-specific mortality. The National Lung Screening Trial (NLST) demonstrated that there was a relative reduction in mortality from lung cancer with LDCT screening of 20% when comparing two groups – one group receiving chest X-rays and one group having undergone LDCT2– and that the...

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