Do positive NLST results persist in a poor, nonwhite, overweight urban population?

A new study looked at lung cancer screening in a population that bears little resemblance to the relatively affluent cohort in the National Lung Screening Trial (NLST), which produced a minimum 20% mortality reduction from screening. Does the successful NLST model still hold true?

"Our institution serves the Bronx, a population that is vastly different from the NLST cohort, and it is not known if the NLST results will be generalizable to our population," Dr. Hanna Milch, from Montefiore Medical Center, told AuntMinnie.com. "We will present on our practical challenges and successes in implementing a lung cancer screening program in a diverse urban population, as well as our preliminary results from the first 320 patients screened."

Learn the somewhat surprising early results from the community lung cancer screening study, which began in 2012. Nearly 70% of the screening subjects were nonwhite, 72% were current smokers, and their mean body mass index was 31.

Following NLST screening and Fleischner follow-up criteria, the program employed a screening coordinator who worked closely with patients and tracked follow-up CT scans -- a critical piece of the program, Milch said. Scans were interpreted by one of four thoracic radiologists. Despite the newness of the program, a higher percentage of the screening population than in NLST have already been identified as positive for lung carcinoma.