Review of economic evaluation of lung cancer screening with low-dose computed tomography

ObjectiveTo analyze recent economic evaluation studies of low-dose CT screening for lung cancer in order to provide recommendations for such economic evaluation in China.

MethodsA systematic search and analysis was conducted to identify articles on low-dose CT screening for lung cancer published from 2015 to 2019.

ResultsAccording to the literature inclusion criteria， 15 studies were included. Most of the studies were conducted in Europe， the United States and other developed countries. The majority adopted model simulation approaches. Low-dose CT screening was suggested to be cost-effective compared with no-screening or chest radiography for lung cancer in 13 studies. Only 2 studies showed no cost-effectiveness.

ConclusionThe latest evidence of economic evaluation shows that low-dose CT screening for lung cancer is cost-effective and has a more consistent result than previous reviews. Methodologically， use of microsimulation models is increasing for better economic evaluation at the individual level. However， evidence from developing countries is still insufficient. It is necessary to conduct economic evaluation in combination with the domestic practice of lung cancer screening and localized data．