Potential Complications of Lung Cancer Screening: False Negatives
A false negative exam occurs when a person has a lung cancer, but the CT scan fails to report a positive test result.
Are there false negatives in CT lung cancer screening?
Yes.
False negative screening tests are possible if the lung cancer is very small or is in the center of the lung where cancers are harder to see. It is also possible that a small cancer can be visible, but be missed by the radiologist.
Fortunately,` false negatives are uncommon in CT lung screening.
Because the lung is mostly air-filled (seen as black on a CT image), it is relatively easy to see tiny white spots as small as 2 mm That may represent cancer.
What harm does a false negative cause?
False negative tests result in delay in diagnosis and treatment. Because false negative lung cancers are typically very small and because CT scans are performed at yearly intervals, when the lung cancer is found one year later it will hopefully still be at a small size and early stage and amenable to potentially curative treatment.
A potential false negative scan report is one reason why it is important for a person to continue to go for screening every year and not discontinue screening.
Potential Complications of Lung Cancer Screening: False Positives