Researchers from a pair of British schools have determined that referring patients for X-rays more frequently can help save lives.
In a study from the University of Sheffield and University of Exeter, investigators examined a vast data pool from more than 170,000 patients and chest X-rays (CXR) from over 7,400 general practitioner (GP) practices in England.
By doing so, they discovered that subjects who received the scans more frequently were more likely to get an early lung cancer diagnosis and receive treatment in a timely manner. Furthermore, those patients had a slimmer chance of learning they had the disease in its more advanced and deadly stages.
Cancer Research UK funded the initiative. The researchers published their findings in the British Journal of General Practice.
“Patients diagnosed with lung cancer who were registered at English general practices that had the highest utilization of CXR were more likely to be diagnosed with early-stage disease and had improved 1-year and 5-year survival,” the authors wrote in the their study, “compared with those registered at practices with the lowest utilization of CXR.”
Co-author Willie Hamilton, from the University of Exeter, says that him and his team now know without a doubt that more X-rays = more cancers detected in their early and most treatable stages. He explained that this connection wasn’t definitive before. Hamilton once received the “Commander of the Order of the British Empire” award at Buckingham Palace for his innovative work in the cancer diagnostics field.
“Does the frequency of GP X-Ray referrals affect the diagnosis and survival of lung cancer patients?” the University of Exeter’s Faculty of Health and Life Sciences said in a social media post. “According to a new study from a University of Sheffield-led partnership involving our school, the answer is YES!”
Read more: Breath Diagnostics onboards new president and closes critical financing
Read more: Breath Diagnostics pioneers novel lung cancer breath test
South Korean study highlights CXR screening value
The investigation from the scholars in Britain stands out because of the extensive amount of data they used to draw their conclusions.
But, a 2020 study published by a duo of scholars from the Catholic University of Korea and the University of Illinois also determined that the potential of X-rays as a screening tool was being underestimated.
“CXR with improved methods and settings provides an easily accessible and low-risk imaging method for earlier detection of lung cancer compared to current clinical imaging settings,” they concluded in the Translational Lung Cancer Research journal entry.
With the newly released analysis from the University of Sheffield backed by previous findings like these, CXRs are receiving greater attention for their systematic screening potential.
“Although survival benefits are much higher with LDCT and the advantages of screening with CXRs are still being investigated, the possible merit of CXRs as a screening tool cannot be ignored.”
rowan@mugglehead.com
