BACKGROUND: Recently, there has been increased interest in the use of computed tomography (CT) for @entity2 screening. For this technique to be effective, small @entity5 must be detected at an earlier stage than large lesions. However, to the authors's knowledge, the relationship between the size of small primary (< or = 3 cm) @entity5 and disease stage at presentation has never been established clearly. The current study was performed to determine whether smaller lesions indeed have an earlier stage distribution compared with larger @entity5 . METHODS: The Duke University Medical Center Tumor Registry identified 620 @entity1 (261 @entity1 and 359 @entity1 , with a mean age of 67 years) who presented with pathologically proven primary @entity1149 measuring < or = 3 cm between 1980-1999. Surgical, pathologic, and imaging information was reviewed retrospectively to confirm the size of the lesion and the disease stage at the time of presentation. The distribution of @entity5 size within each stage and the distribution of disease stage according to @entity5 size were determined. RESULTS: @entity5 occurring in @entity1 with TNM Stage IIIB disease were slightly larger than those found in @entity1 with either more advanced or @entity1442 . However, there was no apparent statistically significant relation between the stage distribution and the size of the @entity75 . CONCLUSIONS: The current study data did not find a statistically significant relation between the size of small primary @entity2 and the distribution of disease stage at the time of presentation. This finding suggests that the detection of small @entity5 using screening CT may not result in a shift to an @entity66 stage distribution. A reduction in mortality needs to be demonstrated by appropriate clinical trials prior to the initiation of mass CT screening programs.

Stage distribution in XXXX with a small (< or = 3 cm) primary @entity1149 . Implication for @entity2 screening.

@entity1 :: ('9606', 'Species') :: ['women', 'patients', 'men'] @entity66 :: ('MESH:D004194', 'Disease') :: ['earlier disease'] @entity5 :: ('MESH:D009369', 'Disease') :: ['tumor', 'Tumors', 'neoplasms', 'tumors'] @entity75 :: ('MESH:D001927', 'Disease') :: ['primary lesion'] @entity2 :: ('MESH:D008175', 'Disease') :: ['lung tumors', 'lung carcinoma'] @entity1149 :: ('MESH:D002289', 'Disease') :: ['nonsmall cell lung carcinomas'] @entity1442 :: ('MESH:D020178', 'Disease') :: ['less advanced disease']
@entity1 :: (9606,Species) :: ['patients']
