RSNA 2015: Subsolid lung nodules may indicate higher risk for lung cancer in women

Women with a certain type of lung nodule detected during lung cancer screening may be at greater risk for lung cancer than men with the same nodule. In a study presented at RSNA 2015, researchers reviewed CT scans from the National Lung Screening Trial (NLST) characterized all CT-detected nodules measuring 4 to 30 millimeters by consistency using the NLST database and calculated the relative risk of developing a lung cancer for each nodule consistency subtype. Lung nodules are classified as solid or subsolid based on their appearance. Subsolid nodules are divided into two groups: part solid, which have a solid component and a ground glass, or hazy area, and pure ground glass. They found that 37.8% of the 26,455 participants had a positive screen at one or more points during the trial, and women had a substantially higher relative risk of lung cancer than men with the same type of nodules, said study lead author Phillip Boiselle, MD, from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School in Boston, Mass. “The main difference we found was that women were 50 percent more likely than men to have ground-glass nodules and, when these nodules were present, women had a substantially higher risk of developing lung cancer,” Dr. Boiselle said.

© Anderson Publishing, Ltd. 2024 All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or part without express written permission Is strictly prohibited.