This provided

level 1 evidence and confirmation of previous non-randomized trials of CT screening [2], [3], [4] and [5] that reported more detection of early stage disease and prolonged survival. The fact that we now know that screening and early detection saves lives from lung cancer is in many ways only the start of the process of developing Anti-diabetic Compound Library a cost effective early detection program. A screening program based only upon CT as demonstrated by the NLST study has numerous problems, including a high number of benign nodules identified (i.e., false positives; e.g., 96.4% of the positive results in the NLST study were benign) [1], [2], [6] and [7], the lingering question of what to do after 3 annual screens, and the fact that only ∼30% of all lung cancer patients would meet the NLST entry criteria (i.e., 55–74 years of age, ≥30 pack-years smoking history, and if an ex-smoker, must have quit within the last 15 years) [1]. One recent publication from a single US center focused on patients presenting with early stage lung cancers and aimed to address the question of the percentage of patients with early stage lung cancer who fulfilled the NLST criteria. Based on 267 patients with early stage disease, less than half met the NLST high risk criteria. Since the majority of these patients were not considered high-risk by the NLST criteria, they would not be covered under current screening paradigms [8]. It therefore

seems that a requirement for Selleck Afatinib an effective early detection program would be a biological test that would increase the pre-test probability of lung cancer in a high risk population – the pre-test probability

being based either on demographic factors (e.g., age and smoking history), imaging findings (e.g., lung nodules) or both. A biological test that is performed on a peripheral blood sample would have clear advantages, including patient Ixazomib compliance, convenience and cost savings. EarlyCDT-Lung is a blood test that measures autoantibodies to lung cancer-associated antigens. It was developed to aid physicians in the early detection of lung cancer in a high-risk population. EarlyCDT-Lung was introduced clinically in a limited manner; as part of the limited release of the test a clinical audit program was established for individuals who gave consent for follow-up in accordance with the HIPAA Privacy Rule. The primary purpose of the audit was to confirm that the characteristics of the test, as reported in the training and validation case–control studies, were reproducible in routine clinical practice. This manuscript reports clinical outcomes at 6 months following EarlyCDT-Lung for the first ∼1600 patients whose physicians ordered the test and where the patient gave informed consent to be part of the audit program. The first 1699 patients for whom US physicians ordered EarlyCDT®-Lung are described here. The tests were ordered by 810 unique physicians in 720 different practices throughout 48 US states.