Learn About NLST

Trial Summary

The National Lung Screening Trial (NLST) was a randomized controlled clinical trial of screening tests for lung cancer. Approximately 54,000 participants were enrolled between August 2002 and April 2004. The goal of the study was to assess whether low-dose CT screening reduces lung cancer mortality relative to chest radiography among high-risk individuals.

Data Collected

Many types of data were collected as part of NLST, covering several areas of focus from a variety of sources including questionnaires completed near the start of the trial, through screening, cancer diagnoses and other events of interest, and ending with information about mortality and contamination.

• Main Questionnaires
• Screening
• Diagnostic Procedures
• Cancer Diagnosis
• Treatment
• Progression
• Mortality
• Contamination

Biospecimens Collected

Formalin-fixed paraffin embedded (FFPE) tissue specimens are available for a subset of the NLST participants who developed lung cancer during the trial. Donor blocks were obtained from local pathology laboratories and tissue cores (0.6mm) were extracted from them to construct tissue microarrays (TMA).

Main Findings

A collection of publications and websites summarizing the main findings and the design of the study. Available publication topics include study results, design and process, and protocol documents.