Rebuttal From Dr Mazzone

[摘要] Figures Figure 1 Equal risk of developing lung cancer does not equate to an equal balance of benefit and harms. A, A 60-year-old white smoker with a BMI of 28 kg/m², some college, one pack per day for 40 years, with a family history of lung cancer, no COPD, no coronary artery disease, and no prior cancers. Calculated risk of developing lung cancer in the next 6 years is 3.5% according to the PLCO_M2012 risk calculator. Favorable balance of benefit to harm. B, A 75-year-old white former smoker with a BMI of 28 kg/m², some college, one pack per day for 20 years (quit 15 years ago), COPD, coronary artery disease, prior cancer, and no family history of lung cancer. Calculated risk of developing lung cancer in the next 6 years is 3.6% according to the PLCO_M2012 risk calculator. Unclear balance of benefit to harm. Important advances occur when well-intentioned experts with differences of opinion work together. To this end, prior to digesting the content of Dr Wood’s essay,¹ I deleted the phrases “intellectually simple” and “naive and myopic” from his text. The important content of Dr Wood’s argument left me with two conclusions. First, he has not carefully read the updated CHEST lung cancer screening guidelines,² and second, he believes that everyone with an equal risk of developing lung cancer has an equal balance of benefit and harms from screening.

[学科分类] 呼吸医学