Course introduction
Worldwide, lung cancer is the most common cause of cancer related death in both men and women. Every year, more people die of lung cancer than of breast, prostate and colon cancers combined. At time of diagnosis, lung cancer is most often at such an advanced stage, that curative intent treatment is no longer possible and overall five-year survival rates are merely 15%. In contrast, when diagnosed at an early stage, five-year survival increases to 60-70%.
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Course information
Worldwide, lung cancer is the most common cause of cancer related death in both men and women. Every year, more people die of lung cancer than of breast, prostate and colon cancers combined. At time of diagnosis, lung cancer is most often at such an advanced stage, that curative intent treatment is no longer possible and overall five-year survival rates are merely 15%. In contrast, when diagnosed at an early stage, five-year survival increases to 60-70%.
Screening for lung cancer by low dose chest CT enables early detection of lung cancer and hereby early treatment with curative intent. In the USA in 2011, the National Lung cancer Screening Trial (NLST) showed sound scientific evidence that screening for lung cancer by CT would indeed decrease mortality. However, the high false positive referral rate of 25% is still of concern when the NLST protocol is implemented. In the Dutch-Belgian lung cancer screening trial NELSON, evaluation of pulmonary nodules is based upon volume rather than diameter. Growth is assessed by volume doubling time rather than increase in diameter. This allows for more accurate measurements with lower variability and for a significant lower false positive rate without compromising sensitivity for detecting early stage lung cancer.
In this eLearning programme, you will read more on the background of lung cancer and lung cancer screening by low dose CT. The programme is in line with the British Thoracic Society Guidelines for the investigation and management of pulmonary nodules. You will become more familiar with volumetric based management of pulmonary nodules in lung cancer screening. You will be able to practise screening in a selected set of 100 cases with a wide variety of findings. Throughout the programme, adaptive learning is used to track your progress and tailor the course depending on your experience and knowledge. The course is finished after an exam and the course certificate will become available after a sufficient score on the exam.