Incidental Pulmonary Nodules: An Opportunity to Complement Lung Cancer Screening

Early identification and definitive management of lung cancer is the key to improved survival.1,2 Noncalcified pulmonary nodules are often detected on chest computed tomography (CT), particularly in former or current smokers.3 This is observed in both screening and clinical settings. Although the latter may be referred to as incidental findings, they are so frequent as to be expected in a patient older than 50 years of age with a substantial smoking history. The management of incidental nodules requires a different approach to screen-detected nodules, requiring one to consider the context of the chest CT, other comorbidities, and risk factors of the patient.