Characteristics of Pulmonary Nodules in Current Smoker

Abstract

Lung cancer is the leading cause of death from cancer and the most effective way to reduce lung cancer mortality is early detection and treatment. The low-dose computed tomography (CT) can reduce the chances of lung cancer death, and used as screening test in several countries. Pulmonary nodules are a common finding in smokers, and differential diagnosis from cancer is a particularly important in lung cancer screening in smokers. We tried to find out the characteristics of lung nodules in patients who underwent smoker cancer screening. Data on low-dose lung CT findings and smoking counseling were collected for lung cancer screening patients for smokers conducted from January 2012 to June 2022. Out of a total of 1,320 patients, 1,101 had lung nodules. Lung nodules located in the right upper lobe were the most common at 30.5%, and lung nodules located in the right middle lobe were the least at 11.5%. Solid nodules were 97.3%, and ground-lass shadowing lesion was 2.4%. The average nodule size was 3.33 mm, and the largest was 43 mm. Compared to the previous test, 8.8% of the nodules were changed, and 1.8% of the total were suspected of cancer. The number of cessation patients interviewed was 138 (10.5%), and 98 were referred to smoking cessation clinics. This study shows that the lung nodule reporting rate is higher than overseas lung nodule reporting rate.