A June 12, 2006 article by John Johnston notes skepticism about the value of spiral CT scans as an early-detection method for lung cancer:
However, the screening jury is still out for Dr. Elizabeth Whelan.
Whelan, president of the American Council on Science and Health (ACSH) said, "despite evaluations of many different screening techniques involving hundreds of thousands of individuals, there is no evidence that such screening prevents deaths from lung cancer."
"Worse," Whelan said, "there is evidence that screening can lead to over-diagnosis of the disease -- that is, the finding of 'indolent' cancers that would never have threatened life or health but would have triggered risky surgical intervention nonetheless. Similarly, the procedure may pick up tumors which are so advanced they cannot be treated -- rendering the screening in these cases useless."
"The ongoing National Lung Screening trial may offer us new answers within years," Whelan said, adding and quoting an editorial in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute: "The theoretical benefits of screening must be validated by appropriate, rigorous clinical trials before being introduced into routine practice."