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The evidence claims that using CT scans can cut the death rate by 20 percent, as compared to people screened by chest X-ray

Lung cancer is more quickly detected in longtime and former smokers by having regular CT scans done, HealthDay reports. The evidence claims that using CT scans can cut the death rate by 20 percent, as compared to people screened by chest X-ray.

The information comes from a new U.S. government study using more than 53,000 current and former heavy smokers. The group, ages 55 to 74, were chosen at random to either undergo a “low-dose helical CT scan” or a chest X-ray once a year for three years.

The results of the National Lung Screening Trial showed that those who received CT scans were 20 percent less likely to die than those who received X-rays alone, HealthDay said.

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With early detection of lung tumors paramount for overcoming the disease, the CT scans’ ability to more accurately find tumors was key to their success. Researchers found that over the course of the three-year study, 24 percent of the CT screens were positive compared to less than 7 percent of the chest X-rays.

One reason the CT scans were more effective is because the technology provides a more complete picture of the chest, experts said. X-rays remain a single image of the chest, with parts of the body overlapping one another, while CT scans provide a more three-dimensional image.

Source: U.S. National Cancer Institute