Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32732334›Full record

Trial reportThe European respiratory journal2021

Earlier diagnosis of lung cancer in a randomised trial of an autoantibody blood test followed by imaging.

Frank M Sullivan, Frances S Mair, William Anderson, Pauline Armory, Andrew Briggs, Cindy Chew, Alistair Dorward, John Haughney, Fiona Hogarth, Denise Kendrick and 19 more

Open access · hybridAbstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Trial report in The European respiratory journal, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 87 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
87citing papers in PubMed, 4 pooled it
11.0field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

87 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 131 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Biomarkers Suitable for Early Detection of Intrathoracic Cancers in Primary Care: A Systematic Review.Cancer epidemiology, biomarkers & prevention : a publication of the American Association for Cancer Research, cosponsored by the American Society of Preventive Oncology · 2025
    Pooled it
  3. Pooled it
  4. Pooled it
  5. Trial
  6. Trial
  7. Article
  8. Review
  9. Article
  10. Review
  11. Article
  12. Review
  13. Article
  14. Article
  15. Advances in the Basic Sciences in Thoracic Oncology in the Last 20 Years and Their Translational Impact.Journal of thoracic oncology : official publication of the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer · 2026
    Review
  16. Article
  17. Updates in Lung Cancer Screening: A Decade of Evidence.Seminars in respiratory and critical care medicine · 2025
    Review
  18. Review
  19. Article
  20. Article

27 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

29 authors at 11 institutions in 2 countries.

Frank M SullivanSchool of Medicine, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, UK fms20@st-andrews.ac.uk.
Frances S MairInstitute of Health and Wellbeing, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK.
William AndersonRespiratory Medicine, NHS Tayside, Dundee, UK.
Pauline ArmoryTayside Clinical Trials Unit, University of Dundee, Dundee, UK.
Andrew BriggsDept of Health Services Research and Policy, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK.
Cindy ChewRadiology, NHS Lanarkshire, Bothwell, UK.
Alistair DorwardRespiratory Medicine, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, Glasgow, UK.
John HaughneyGeneral Practice, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, Glasgow, UK.ORCID 0000-0002-6809-6964
Fiona HogarthTayside Clinical Trials Unit, University of Dundee, Dundee, UK.
Denise KendrickSchool of Medicine, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK.
Roberta LittlefordCentre for Clinical Research, University of Queensland, Saint Lucia, Australia.
Alex McConnachieInstitute of Health and Wellbeing, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK.
Colin McCowanSchool of Medicine, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, UK.
Nicola McMeekinInstitute of Health and Wellbeing, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK.
Manish PatelRespiratory Medicine, NHS Lanarkshire, Bothwell, UK.
Petra RauchhausTayside Clinical Trials Unit, University of Dundee, Dundee, UK.
Lewis RitchieThe Institute of Applied Health Sciences, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, UK.
Chris RobertsonDept of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, UK.
John RobertsonSchool of Medicine, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK.
Jose Robles-ZuritaInstitute of Health and Wellbeing, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK.
Joseph SarvesvaranRespiratory Medicine, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, Glasgow, UK.
Herbert SewellSchool of Life Sciences, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK.
Michael SprouleRadiology, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, Glasgow, UK.
Thomas TaylorRadiology, NHS Tayside, Dundee, UK.
Agnes TelloSchool of Medicine, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, UK.
Shaun TreweekHealth Services Research Unit, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, UK.
Kavita VedharaSchool of Medicine, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK.ORCID 0000-0002-9940-7534
Stuart SchembriRespiratory Medicine, NHS Tayside, Dundee, UK.
Early Diagnosis of Lung Cancer Scotland (ECLS) Team
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde · GBUniversity of Glasgow · GBUniversity of Nottingham · GBNHS Tayside · GBUniversity of Dundee · GBUniversity of St Andrews · GBNHS Lanarkshire · GBUniversity of Aberdeen · GBLondon School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine · GBThe University of Queensland · AUUniversity of Strathclyde · GB

Funding

Chief Scientist Office HSRU1
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The EarlyCDT-Lung test is a high-specificity blood-based autoantibody biomarker that could contribute to predicting lung cancer risk. We report on the results of a phase IV biomarker evaluation of whether using the EarlyCDT-Lung test and any subsequent computed tomography (CT) scanning to identify those at high risk of lung cancer reduces the incidence of patients with stage III/IV/unspecified lung cancer at diagnosis compared with the standard clinical practice at the time the study began.The Early Diagnosis of Lung Cancer Scotland (ECLS) trial was a randomised controlled trial of 12 208 participants at risk of developing lung cancer in Scotland in the UK. The intervention arm received the EarlyCDT-Lung test and, if test-positive, low-dose CT scanning 6-monthly for up to 2 years. EarlyCDT-Lung test-negative and control arm participants received standard clinical care. Outcomes were assessed at 2 years post-randomisation using validated data on cancer occurrence, cancer staging, mortality and comorbidities.At 2 years, 127 lung cancers were detected in the study population (1.0%). In the intervention arm, 33 out of 56 (58.9%) lung cancers were diagnosed at stage III/IV compared with 52 out of 71 (73.2%) in the control arm. The hazard ratio for stage III/IV presentation was 0.64 (95% CI 0.41-0.99). There were nonsignificant differences in lung cancer and all-cause mortality after 2 years.ECLS compared EarlyCDT-Lung plus CT screening to standard clinical care (symptomatic presentation) and was not designed to assess the incremental contribution of the EarlyCDT-Lung test. The observation of a stage shift towards earlier-stage lung cancer diagnosis merits further investigations to evaluate whether the EarlyCDT-Lung test adds anything to the emerging standard of low-dose CT.

Indexed as

Early Detection of CancerLung NeoplasmsHematologic TestsHumansNeoplasm StagingScotland

Identifiers

PMID32732334
PMCPMC7806972
OpenAlexW3042611171

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.