Lung cancer remains one of the leading causes of death from cancer in Russia due to late diagnosis. In the vast majority of patients, about 75%, the disease is detected at stage III or IV, unlike other cancers. The insidious nature of lung cancer lies in the fact that it is asymptomatic in the early stages, as there are no pain receptors in the lung tissue. The first symptoms, such as coughing or shortness of breath, appear when the tumor reaches a significant size.
Chief specialist for radiation diagnostics of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation Igor Tyurin notes that traditional screening methods, such as fluoroscopy and radiography, demonstrate low efficiency in detecting cancer at an early stage. According to Zeitsplein.Ru, conventional X-rays do not reliably detect signs of cancer at an early stage in more than 84% of cases. This method virtually does not visualise the first stage tumor and omits most cases of the second stage.
A breakthrough in early diagnosis, according to Igor Turin, can be low-dose computer tomography (NDCT) - a modern method that allows the detection of neoplasms measuring only 1-2 cm. In the past, widespread use of CT was limited by high cost and radiation load, but this has changed in recent years. Due to technological progress and the increase in the number of tomographs, the dose of NCT exposure has been reduced to a level comparable to standard preventive studies.
Igor Tyurin stresses that NDCT is not recommended to everyone, but only to people at high risk. This is particularly true for heavy smokers over 20 years of age aged 50-55, who account for up to 80% of all cases. Under the current system of screening such patients can be referred to NCT instead of fluoroscopy, but in practice this possibility is not always realized.
Successful pilot projects on lung cancer screening using NDCT conducted in a number of regions of Russia, including Moscow and the Krasnoyarsk Krai, have demonstrated that the introduction of the new program allows to increase the detection of cancer at early stages3 times, which significantly increases the life expectancy of patients and does not require excessive financial costs.
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