Patient case (clinical description): A 47-year-old man comes to the office for routine checkup. He is complaining of chronic cough and occasional but progressive dyspnea.  Other medical conditions include hypertension and osteoarthritis.  The patient smokes a pack of cigarettes daily and does not use alcohol or illicit drugs.  He used to be a construction worker. On examination, there are decreased breath sounds and percussive dullness at the base of both lungs.  Chest CT scan reveals a mild bilateral pleural effusion and diffuse thickening of the pleura. The patient's documents show chronic exposure to asbestosis. The specimen of the lungs reveled  pulmonary fibrosis that is most predominant in the lower lobes, characterized  by the presence of asbestos bodies (golden-brown beaded rods with translucent centers).

Patient's own account: I'm a 47-year-old former construction worker. I'm a man and I smoke a pack of cigs a day but I don't drink or do drugs. I went to my routine checkup because I've been coughing so much lately. I also had shortness of breath and it got worse over time. I already suffer from hypertension and osteoarthritis. My doctor found that I have decreased breath sounds. I did a chest scan and it seems that I have fluid around my lungs, and the lining of my lungs has become thicker in many areas. I have been exposed a lot to asbestos fibers. The other lung exam showed that I have pulmonary fibrosis, especially in the lower part of my lungs and they found some asbestos there.

Clinical trial: Screening Methods in Finding Lung Cancer Early in Current or Former Smokers

Eligibility criteria:
DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS:

          -  Current or former smoker

               -  A former smoker is defined as one who has stopped smoking ≥ 1 year but < 15 years
                  ago

          -  Estimated 1-year lung cancer risk ≥ 1%

        PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS:

          -  ECOG performance status 0-1

          -  Not pregnant

          -  Willing to undergo a spiral chest CT scan

          -  No severe heart disease (e.g., unstable angina or chronic congestive heart failure)

          -  No acute or chronic respiratory failure

          -  No bleeding disorder

          -  No other medical condition that, in the opinion of the investigator, would preclude
             the participant's safety during study participation or that would unlikely benefit the
             participant from screening due to shortened life expectancy from the co-morbidity

          -  No diagnosis of cancer, except for any of the following that were previously treated ≥
             5 years ago:

               -  Non-melanomatous skin cancer

               -  Localized prostate cancer

               -  Carcinoma in situ of the cervix

               -  Superficial bladder cancer

          -  No known reaction to xylocaine, salbutamol, midazolam, or alfentanil

        PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY:

          -  More than 2 years since prior chest CT scan

          -  No concurrent anti-coagulant treatment (e.g., warfarin or heparin)
No condition on gender to be admitted to the trial.
No healthy subjects accepted to join the trial.
Subject must be at least 50 Years old.
Subject must be at most 75 Years

Eligibility (NLI label): Contradiction