Volume 50, Number 2
April 2015
Letter From Guest Editor: Radiologic Screening
I
n this issue of Seminars in Roentgenology, we examine the use of imaging studies to screen individuals who are asymptomatic to detect disease before it is clinically evident. The ethics of offering screening to asymptomatic individuals are different from the ethics of evaluating and treating symptomatic patients. The oath of physicians, “primum non nocere” or “first, do no harm” is an important consideration when performing and evaluating screening tests. The operational details of screening studies are complex including strategies to define who should be screened, the screening test to be used, as well as when and how often the screening test should be performed. When a screening test result is abnormal, further evaluation with subsequent invasive procedures may be warranted. Patient discomfort, anxiety, and financial costs of false-positive screening results must be weighed. With the recent media attention to lung cancer screening as a result of the National Lung Screening Trial and the increasing availability of screening tests, interest in this complex topic is heightened. Various societies are offering workshops on how to set up a lung cancer screening program and seminars to foster research and education, as well as to promote and exchange new ideas related to screening. To provide radiologists with an interest in screening with the most up-to-date
http://dx.doi.org/10.1053/j.ro.2014.10.013 0037-198X/& 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
information regarding the screening for cancers of the lung, breast, and colon as well as screening for vascular diseases including the aorta, carotid, coronary, and peripheral arteries, this issue of the Seminars in Roentgenology offers a comprehensive review of the role of various imaging screening tests with evidence regarding the benefits and risks associated with screening including an in-depth analysis of radiation exposure. I would like to thank Dr. Jannette Collins for giving me the opportunity to serve as guest editor of this issue and to commend the contributing authors for their hard work in providing a thorough analysis of this challenging and timely topic.
Guest Editor
Mylene T. Truong, MD Professor of Radiology University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center 1515 Holcombe Boulevard Unit 1478 Houston, Texas 77030 Telephone 713 792 5884 Fax 713 794 4361
67
April 2015
Letter From Guest Editor: Radiologic Screening
I
n this issue of Seminars in Roentgenology, we examine the use of imaging studies to screen individuals who are asymptomatic to detect disease before it is clinically evident. The ethics of offering screening to asymptomatic individuals are different from the ethics of evaluating and treating symptomatic patients. The oath of physicians, “primum non nocere” or “first, do no harm” is an important consideration when performing and evaluating screening tests. The operational details of screening studies are complex including strategies to define who should be screened, the screening test to be used, as well as when and how often the screening test should be performed. When a screening test result is abnormal, further evaluation with subsequent invasive procedures may be warranted. Patient discomfort, anxiety, and financial costs of false-positive screening results must be weighed. With the recent media attention to lung cancer screening as a result of the National Lung Screening Trial and the increasing availability of screening tests, interest in this complex topic is heightened. Various societies are offering workshops on how to set up a lung cancer screening program and seminars to foster research and education, as well as to promote and exchange new ideas related to screening. To provide radiologists with an interest in screening with the most up-to-date
http://dx.doi.org/10.1053/j.ro.2014.10.013 0037-198X/& 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
information regarding the screening for cancers of the lung, breast, and colon as well as screening for vascular diseases including the aorta, carotid, coronary, and peripheral arteries, this issue of the Seminars in Roentgenology offers a comprehensive review of the role of various imaging screening tests with evidence regarding the benefits and risks associated with screening including an in-depth analysis of radiation exposure. I would like to thank Dr. Jannette Collins for giving me the opportunity to serve as guest editor of this issue and to commend the contributing authors for their hard work in providing a thorough analysis of this challenging and timely topic.
Guest Editor
Mylene T. Truong, MD Professor of Radiology University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center 1515 Holcombe Boulevard Unit 1478 Houston, Texas 77030 Telephone 713 792 5884 Fax 713 794 4361
67
