• Stephen H Bradley, Sarah Abraham, Matthew Ej Callister, Adam Grice, William T Hamilton, Rocio Rodriguez Lopez, Bethany Shinkins, and Richard D Neal.
• Academic Unit of Primary Care, University of Leeds, Leeds.
• Br J Gen Pract. 2019 Dec 1; 69 (689): e827-e835.

BackgroundDespite increasing use of computed tomography (CT), chest X-ray remains the first-line investigation for suspected lung cancer in primary care in the UK. No systematic review evidence exists as to the sensitivity of chest X-ray for detecting lung cancer in people presenting with symptoms.AimTo estimate the sensitivity of chest X-ray for detecting lung cancer in symptomatic people.Design And SettingA systematic review was conducted to determine the sensitivity of chest X-ray for the detection of lung cancer.MethodDatabases including MEDLINE, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Library were searched; a grey literature search was also performed.ResultsA total of 21 studies met the eligibility criteria. Almost all were of poor quality. Only one study had the diagnostic accuracy of chest X-ray as its primary objective. Most articles were case studies with a high risk of bias. Several were drawn from non-representative groups, for example, specific presentations, histological subtypes, or comorbidities. Only three studies had a low risk of bias. Two primary care studies reported sensitivities of 76.8% (95% confidence interval [CI] = 64.5 to 84.2%) and 79.3% (95% CI = 67.6 to 91.0%). One secondary care study reported a sensitivity of 79.7% (95% CI = 72.7 to 86.8%).ConclusionThough there is a paucity of evidence, the highest-quality studies suggest that the sensitivity of chest X-ray for symptomatic lung cancer is only 77% to 80%. GPs should consider if further investigation is necessary in high-risk patients who have had a negative chest X-ray.© British Journal of General Practice 2019.

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