AMDeC

The New York Early Lung Cancer Action Program (NY-ELCAP) was created in 1999, when lung cancer represented the leading cause of cancer mortality in the United States.

AMDeC brought together researchers from 11 affiliated institutions throughout New York State to use state-of-the-art computed tomography (CT) screenings to study 6,366 men and women 60 years of age or older who smoked at least one pack of cigarettes a day for 10 years. Study participants had no prior history of cancer other than non-melanotic skin cancer. NY-ELCAP emphasized exploring minority populations disproportionately affected by the disease.  The goal of NY-ELCAP was to determine if an annual computed tomography is an effective diagnostic tool for detecting early-stage lung cancer in smokers – and thus a strategy for reducing mortality rates.

The study concluded that annual computed tomography is an effective diagnostic tool for detecting early-stage lung cancer in smokers and for reducing mortality rates. Among the cases diagnosed with lung cancers, 98% of cancers were screen-detected and only 2% presented clinically in the interval between annual screening exams.

The results of this study, led by Principal Investigator Dr. Claudia Henschke of Weill Cornell Medical College, were published in the New England Journal of Medicine.