Chest x-rays have been around for 100 years and are still widely used in health care. According to the government’s ongoing National Awareness and Early Diagnosis Initiative (NAEDI) a chest X-ray might be suggested for individuals with possible symptoms of lung cancer. The NAEDI website also states: `This is a standard procedure and nothing to worry about.`
But I do worry about advocating the chest x-ray as a tool to diagnose lung cancer. Over the last 50 years a number of studies have highlighted the inadequacies of the simple chest X-ray as a way to spot lung cancer earlier enough to effect a cure.
Eight years ago research from Exeter – looking at exactly the sort of patients I encounter every day as a GP – reported that one-quarter of lung cancers were missed by doctors placing too much reliance on a `normal` chest X-ray result.
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