Der Radiologe
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Chest radiography still represents the most commonly performed X-ray examination because it is readily available, requires low radiation doses and is relatively inexpensive. However, as previously published, many initially undetected lung nodules are retrospectively visible in chest radiographs. ⋯ Many of these methods will probably be integrated into standard clinical treatment in the near future. Digital software solutions offer advantages as they can be easily incorporated into radiology departments and are often more affordable as compared to hardware solutions.
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Lung cancer is the most frequent cause of tumor-associated death and only has a good prognosis if detected at a very early tumor stage. ⋯ The success of the NLST prompted several predominantly American professional societies to issue a positive recommendation about the implementation of lung cancer screening in a population at risk. However, potentially conflicting results of European studies and a number of not yet optimized issues justify caution and call for a pooled analysis of European studies in order to provide statistically sound results and to ensure a high efficiency of screening with respect to the radiation applied, mental and physical patient burden and, last but not least, the financial efforts.