focused on heavy smokers , which may not be suitable for an East Asian population , as this population tends to have higher incidence of lung cancer in never-smokers .
" The study revealed that low-dose CT screening for lung cancer in never-smokers with high risk may be feasible , which is very important to all who are fighting against lung cancer , [ considering ] the increasing global threat for lung cancer in never-smokers . Most importantly , the study showed that family history of lung cancer may increase the risk of lung cancer ." — Pan Chyr Yang , MD , PhD
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TALENT Study Details
The researchers , led by Pan Chyr Yang , MD , PhD , of the National Taiwan University College of Medicine , developed the Taiwan Lung Cancer Screening for Never-Smoker Trial ( TALENT ), a nationwide lung cancer low-dose CT screening study focused on never-smokers . TALENT ’ s goal is also to develop an effective strategy for screening of lung cancer in never-smokers and establish a risk prediction model to identify high-risk population that may benefit from low-dose CT screening .
The TALENT study enrolled and followed 12,011 individuals between February 2015 and July 2019 . Participants were between 55 and 75 years of age and never-smokers . In addition , participants needed to have one of the following risk factors for lung cancer : family history of lung cancer within the third-degree of relations ; passive smoking exposure ; tuberculosis or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease ; cooking index of 110 or greater ; and absence of ventilation during cooking .
Results
Of the 12,011 individuals , 6,009 ( 50 %) had family history of lung cancer , and 2,094 ( 17.4 %) were considered positive on screening . Of these , 395 participants ( 3.3 %) underwent lung biopsies or surgeries . Lung cancer ( 2.6 %) was diagnosed in 313 patients , with 255 ( 2.1 %) diagnosed with invasive lung cancer — all but one was adenocarcinoma , and 96.5 % were diagnosed with stage I disease . The remaining 81 patients had benign lung disease or a malignancy other than cancer .