IT IS not yet clear if scanning the lungs of smokers can reduce the number killed by lung cancer. But it can help them quit, it seems.
As part of a massive test of the benefits of screening smokers, 900 were shown the results of a computed tomography (CT) scan of their lungs, in which a moving beam of X-rays is used to create a three-dimensional picture. Almost all had abnormal lungs, says Richard Hurt of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, who led the study. Faced with this bad news, and given encouragement, many quit. A year after the scan, 14 per cent had kicked the habit (
But even this unexpected benefit has not convinced Hurt that screening smokers is a good idea. "We are spending billions testing CT scanning when we ...
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