Just as researchers were finding ways to scan the lungs for signs of cancer, other researchers were beginning to find flaws in the screening/early diagnosis approach to cancer care.
Last week, the NY Times reported that consent forms had gone missing for 90,000 people enrolled in a Cornell study of CT screening for lung cancer. (The Times noted that later trial out of NIH confirmed that annual CT scans of current and former heavy smokers cut their risk of death from lung cancer by 20 percent.)
Now comes a study out of BU that says lung scans have led to the overdiagnosis of pulmonary embolisms. Reuters reports:
Using national data, the researchers found the rate of so-called pulmonary embolisms, or PEs, nearly doubled with the introduction of a new powerful diagnostic test more than a decade ago.
Yet there was only a slight drop in deaths from the condition over the same period, suggesting many of the clots were too small to cause harm.
The story goes on to explain the risks that come with screening and treatment, including exposure to radiation and kidney damage.
The story quotes Dr. Renda Soylemez Wiener of Boston University, who worked on the study along with researchers from Dartmouth and VA hospitals in Bedford, Mass and White River Junction ,Vermont,
Renda Soylemez Wiener; Lisa M. Schwartz; Steven Woloshin
Time Trends in Pulmonary Embolism in the United States: Evidence of OverdiagnosisArch Intern Med. 2011;171(9):831-837.