© 2021 MJH Life Sciences™ and Diagnostic Imaging. All rights reserved.
Lung-RADS Reduces False Positives, But Also Sensitivity
Diagnostic Imaging Staff
Low-dose CT screening for lung cancer following Lung-RADS criteria may reduce false positives, but it also decreases sensitivity.
Lung cancer screening with low-dose computed tomography may substantially reduce the false-positive result rate, but sensitivity is also decreased, according to a study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
Researchers from several states performed a study to assess the retrospective application of the Lung-RADS criteria to the National Lung Screening Trial (NLST).
The study included 26,722 participants (aged 55 to 74) who had undergone three annual low-dose computed tomography (LDCT) scans. The subjects had at least a 30–pack-year history of smoking, and were current smokers or had quit within the past 15 years.
The results showed that 26,455 participants received a baseline screen and 48,671 screenings were performed after baseline.
| At baseline | After baseline | |
| False-positive rate for Lung-RADS | 12.8% | 5.3% |
| False-positive rate for NLST | 26.6% | 21.8% |
| Baseline sensitivity for Lung-RADS | 84.9% | 78.6% |
| Baseline sensitivity for NLST | 93.5% | 93.8% |
The researchers concluded that while Lung-RADS may substantially reduce the false-positive result rate, sensitivity is also decreased. They suggest that the effect of using Lung-RADS criteria in clinical practice must be carefully studied.