Abstract
The visibility limit of soft tissue nodules in [human] lungs is 3 mm on a chest radiograph, yet lung cancers are rarely detected until the tumors are 8-10 mm in size. Data on the size distribution of nodular lung cancers and noncancerous nodular noise on chest radiographs are presented. These data are analyzed in decision-making terms and show that when the size is 8-10 mm, observers can separate true cancers from noise that mimics cancer, with a probability of being correct, or a predictive value, of 90% or more.

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