Dr. Kohman on the NELSON Trial of Lung Cancer Screening

Leslie J. Kohman, MD, FACS, Distinguished Service Professor of Surgery, Upstate Medical University, Upstate Cancer Center, discusses the results of the NELSON trial of screening in lung cancer.

In the highly anticipated NELSON trial, which was presented at the 2018 World Conference on Lung Cancer, the use of a CT scan was found to reduce the risk of lung cancer deaths by 26% at 10 years, and even more so in women. The findings from this trial outperformed those of the National Lung Screening Trial, but nonetheless support the use of screening. Patients who enrolled in the trial were randomized to CT screening at baseline, year 1, 3, and 5.5 or to standard care. There were 157 and 250 deaths in the screening and controls arms, respectively.

If screening was done adequately and accurately around the world in patients who are at high-risk, physicians would be able to save 25% of people who die from lung cancer, states Kohman. That breaks down to approximately half a million people a year.