Screening for Lung Cancer in Older Patients (PLCO Screening Trial)

Prostate, Lung, Colorectal, and Ovarian (PLCO) Cancer Screening Trial

This clinical trial studies whether screening methods used to diagnose cancer of the prostate, lung, colon, rectum, or ovaries can reduce deaths from these cancers. Screening tests may help doctors find cancer cells early and plan better treatment for lung cancer.

Study Overview

• Status: Active, not recruiting
• Conditions: Lung Carcinoma
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Screening Questionnaire Administration; Procedure: X-Ray Imaging

Detailed Description

PRIMARY OBJECTIVES:

I. To determine whether screening with chest x-ray can reduce mortality from lung cancer in women and men aged 55-74 at entry.

SECONDARY OBJECTIVES:

I. To assess screening variables, other than mortality, for each of the interventions including sensitivity, specificity, and positive predictive value.

II. To assess the incidence, stage, and survival of cancer cases. III. To investigate the mortality predictive value of biologic and/or prognostic characterizations of tumor tissue as intermediate endpoints.

IV. To conduct biomolecular and genetic research into factors associated with cancer carcinogenesis and promotion, as well as the early detection of these factors.

OUTLINE: Participants in the overall PLCO study are stratified by screening center, gender, and age (55-59 vs 60-64 vs 65-69 vs 70-74). Participants are randomized to 1 of 2 arms (control vs screening).

ARM I (Control): Participants receive standard medical care. Participants complete a Diet History Questionnaire (DHQ) at baseline.

ARM II (Lung Screening): Participants undergo a chest x-ray (one postero-anterior view) at baseline and annually for 2 years. Participants classified as "smokers" undergo an additional chest x-ray at year 3. A scheduling and tracking procedure is implemented to ensure regular attendance at repeat screens for participants screened negative or for those who are designated suspicious or positive at screening but for whom subsequent diagnostic procedures do not reveal lung cancer (follow-up diagnostic procedures are through their own medical care environment). Participants diagnosed with lung cancer via a screening test are referred for treatment in accordance with current accepted practice for appropriate stage of disease, patient age, and medical condition; a procedure is provided for contact with qualified medical personnel to insure appropriate therapy.

Participants complete a Baseline Questionnaire (BQF/M) to assess smoking status. Participants complete a Dietary Questionnaire (DQX) at baseline and DHQ at year 3. An Annual Study Update (ADU) (previously referred to as the Periodic Survey of Health [PSH] questionnaire) is mailed to each participant annually for 13 years to identify all prevalent and incident lung cancers as all deaths that occur among both screened and control subjects during the trial.

After completion of screening, participants are followed up for at least 13 years.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 154901
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Maryland
    • Bethesda, Maryland, United States, 20892
      • National Institutes of Health Clinical Center

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 55 years to 74 years (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Description

Exclusion Criteria:

• Men and women who at the time of randomization are less than 55 or greater than or equal to 75 years of age
• Individuals undergoing treatment for cancer at this time, excluding basal-cell and squamous-cell skin cancer

• Individuals with known prior cancer of the colon, rectum, lung, prostate (men only) or ovary (women only)

  • This includes primary or metastatic PLCO cancers

• Individuals with previous surgical removal of the entire colon, one lung, or the entire prostate (men only)

  • Until October 1996, women with previous surgical removal of both ovaries were excluded from the trial. In order to increase the enrollment of women into the trial, beginning in October 1996, these women were no longer excluded for this reason.
• Individuals who are participating in another cancer screening or cancer primary prevention trial

• Males who have taken Proscar/Propecia/finasteride in the past 6 months

  • NOTE: Individuals who are already enrolled in the trial when their physician prescribes finasteride are not prevented from taking this medication. As a result, these participants will continue to be screened and followed just as those participants who are not on finasteride.
  • NOTE: Men who are taking Tamoxifen are not excluded from any part of the PLCO Screening Trial.
  • Prior to April 1, 1999 women were excluded from the trial if they were currently taking or had taken Tamoxifen or Evista\Raloxifene in the past 6 months. As of April 1999 based on a decision from the PLCO Ovary Subcommittee, women who have or are currently taking Tamoxifen or Evista\Raloxifene are not excluded from participation.
• Individuals who are unwilling or unable to sign the informed consent form
• Males who have had more than one PSA blood test in the past three years
• Individuals who have had a colonoscopy, sigmoidoscopy, or barium enema in the past three years

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Screening
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: Single

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
No Intervention: Control; Participants receive standard medical care. Participants complete a DHQ at baseline.
Active Comparator: Lung Screening; Participants undergo a chest x-ray (one postero-anterior view) at baseline and annually for 2 years. Participants classified as "smokers" undergo an additional chest x-ray at year 3. Participants complete a BQF/M at baseline. Participants complete a DQX at baseline and DHQ at year 3. An ADU (previously referred to as the PSH questionnaire) is mailed to each participant annually for 13 years to identify all prevalent and incident lung cancers as all deaths that occur among both screened and control subjects during the trial.	Other: Screening Questionnaire Administration; Undergo questionnaire assessments; Procedure: X-Ray Imaging; Undergo a chest x-ray; Other Names: Conventional X-Ray; Diagnostic Radiology; Medical Imaging, X-Ray; Radiographic Imaging; Radiography; RG; Static X-Ray; X-Ray; Plain film radiographs; Radiographic imaging procedure (procedure)

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Lung Cancer Deaths	Lung cancer deaths confirmed in participants by a death review committee if available, otherwise by death certificate.	Events through 13 years of follow-up or through December 31, 2009; median follow-up 11.9 years.
Lung Cancer Death Rates	Lung cancer deaths confirmed in participants by a death review committee if available, otherwise by death certificate. Rate is the number of deaths divided by person years of follow-up in the study.	Events through 13 years of follow-up or through December 31, 2009; median follow-up 11.9 years.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Deaths From All Causes	Deaths from all causes were compared between the lung screening arm and the usual care arm.	Events through 13 years of follow-up or through December 31, 2009; median follow-up 11.9 years.
Death Rates From All Causes	Deaths from all causes were compared between the lung screening arm and the usual care arm. Rate is the number of deaths divided by person years of follow-up in the study.	Events through 13 years of follow-up or through December 31, 2009; median follow-up 11.9 years.
Lung Cancer Incidence	Lung cancer diagnoses confirmed by medical record abstraction.	Events through 13 years of follow-up or through December 31, 2009; median follow-up 11.9 years.
Lung Cancer Incidence Rates	Lung cancer diagnoses confirmed by medical record abstraction. Incidence rate (cumulative) defined as lung cancer diagnoses divided by person years at risk for lung cancer.	Events through 13 years of follow-up or through December 31, 2009; median follow-up 11.9 years.
Complications of Diagnostic Evaluation Following a Positive Screening Test	Number of positive screens with complications.	One year from screening examination
T0 (Baseline) CXR Screening Results	Postero-anterior view chest radiograph (CXR) result	T0 (at study entry)
T1 CXR Screening Results	Postero-anterior view chest radiograph (CXR) result	T1 (one year after entry)
T2 CXR Screening Results	Postero-anterior view chest radiograph (CXR) result	T2 (two years after entry)
T3 CXR Screening Results	Postero-anterior view chest radiograph (CXR) result	T3 (three years after entry)

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: National Cancer Institute (NCI)
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Christine D Berg, National Cancer Institute (NCI)

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• You D, Wang D, Wu Y, Chen X, Shao F, Wei Y, Zhang R, Lange T, Ma H, Xu H, Hu Z, Christiani DC, Shen H, Chen F, Zhao Y. Associations of genetic risk, BMI trajectories, and the risk of non-small cell lung cancer: a population-based cohort study. BMC Med. 2022 Jun 6;20(1):203. doi: 10.1186/s12916-022-02400-6.
• Jiang Y, Xie Q, Chen R. Breast Cancer Incidence and Mortality in Relation to Hormone Replacement Therapy Use Among Postmenopausal Women: Results From a Prospective Cohort Study. Clin Breast Cancer. 2022 Feb;22(2):e206-e213. doi: 10.1016/j.clbc.2021.06.010. Epub 2021 Jun 26.
• Wang K, Wu Q, Li Z, Reger MK, Xiong Y, Zhong G, Li Q, Zhang X, Li H, Foukakis T, Xiang T, Zhang J, Ren G. Vitamin K intake and breast cancer incidence and death: results from a prospective cohort study. Clin Nutr. 2021 May;40(5):3370-3378. doi: 10.1016/j.clnu.2020.11.009. Epub 2020 Nov 16.
• Malcomson FC, Shams-White MM, Reedy J, Huang WY, Moore SC, Loftfield E. Adherence to the 2018 World Cancer Research Fund/American Institute for Cancer Research Cancer Prevention Recommendations and risk of lifestyle-related cancers in the prostate, lung, colorectal, and ovarian cancer screening trial. BJC Rep. 2025 Nov 19;3(1):81. doi: 10.1038/s44276-025-00195-6.
• Fan Z, Zhang Y, Yao Q, Liu X, Duan H, Liu Y, Sheng C, Lyu Z, Yang L, Song F, Huang Y, Song F. Effects of joint screening for prostate, lung, colorectal, and ovarian cancer - results from a controlled trial. Front Oncol. 2024 Apr 29;14:1322044. doi: 10.3389/fonc.2024.1322044. eCollection 2024.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): November 16, 1993
• Primary Completion (Actual): May 21, 2012
• Study Completion (Estimated): June 30, 2027

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: September 28, 2012
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: October 1, 2012
• First Posted (Estimated): October 2, 2012

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): July 24, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: July 23, 2026
• Last Verified: July 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Neoplasms by Site; Neoplasms; Respiratory Tract Diseases; Lung Diseases; Respiratory Tract Neoplasms; Thoracic Neoplasms; Lung Neoplasms; Physical Phenomena; Equipment and Supplies; Electromagnetic Phenomena; Magnetic Phenomena; Electromagnetic Radiation; Radiation; Radiation, Ionizing; X-Rays; Phantoms, Imaging
• Other Study ID Numbers: NCI-2012-01756 (Registry Identifier: CTRP (Clinical Trial Reporting Program)); CDR0000078532; NCI-P93-0050; PLCO-1; PLCO-Lung (Other Identifier: National Cancer Institute)

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No
• product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.: No