Routine Chest X-Rays May Not Cut Lung Cancer Deaths

Oct. 26, 2012 (Honolulu) -- Getting a routine chest X-ray is not likely to reduce your chance of dying from lung cancer.

That's the result of a study published in The Journal of the American Medical Association and presented at the annual meeting of the American College of Chest Physicians.

It came as a disappointment because more people die of lung cancer worldwide than any other cancer. Researchers are looking for ways to detect lung cancer before it grows too difficult to treat effectively.

"We were hopeful the chest X-rays we did would make a difference," study researcher Paul A. Kvale, MD, tells WebMD.

Still, another expert stresses that patients should not assume chest X-rays are useless. They are still helpful in cases where doctors already have some reason to believe the patient has cancer.

"We should not confuse the value of the chest X-ray in someone who has symptoms of lung cancer with the value of the chest X-ray in someone who does not have symptoms," says Frank C. Detterbeck, MD. Detterbeck is a Yale University lung cancer specialist. He was not involved in the new study.