Biometric design of the Mayo Lung Project for early detection and localization of bronchogenic carcinoma.

Several important aspects of the Mayo Lung Project demand evaluation. These are: 1. Acceptance. Will people accept such a screening program? 2. Case finding. Does the screen pick out the people most likely to have or develop bronchogenic carcinoma? 3. Effectiveness. If an early case of bronchogenic carcinoma is found, will prompt treatment extend life beyond the time at which death from this disease would have occurred if treatment had been delayed? Direct measurement of effectiveness is not possible, and indirect methods must be used. A group of patients, all of whom are considered suitable for the screening program, are being divided randomly into two subgroups, one to be screened and the other to be kept as an unscreened control. Mortality in the two groups is to be compared for 5 years, and hopefully for 10 years. We also consider here sample size requirements and reports on some of the characteristics of the first 500 patients.