Stratification of Pulmonary Nodules in Incidental Findings and Lung Cancer Screening

Lung cancer is one of the most common cancers with the highest mortality rate both in the UK and Worldwide. In 2010, some 42,026 new cases were diagnosed in the UK and 34,859 lung cancer deaths recorded. In 2008, 1.6 million new lung cancer cases and 1.4 million deaths were recorded worldwide. Against this background, this project addresses a hugely challenging and unmet need in stratifying patients with Pulmonary Nodules (PNs), small masses in the lung, in Chest Computed Tomography (CT) scans. Such findings might typically occur in one of two situations: as incidental findings on scans unrelated to lung cancer, e.g. investigations for pulmonary embolism, or in lung cancer screening. In either situation, the problem is the same: nodules are very common in Chest CT and so either require further investigation, if sufficiently suspicious, otherwise follow-up imaging after 6, 12 and 18 months. However, most nodule are not cancers.
Therefore, this project will develop new image-based stratification techniques for patients with Chest CT nodules. The project has two broad objectives. First, to develop new image processing technologies to make it much more efficient to read multiple Chest studies. Second, develop new image processing techniques coupled with new protocols where necessary to radically improve both the sensitivity and especially specificity of imaging of the lung.