The integrity of a $200-million study of the effectiveness of annual CT scans to detect lung cancer among smokers is being challenged because some researchers on the project have ties to the tobacco industry, the Wall Street Journal reported Oct. 8.

Patient advocates and some members of Congress say that two key researchers on the National Lung Screening Trial have conflicts of interest because they have been paid witnesses for the tobacco industry in past lawsuits.

The study, slated for completion in 2009, is expected to have a major impact on whether routine CT scans become a standard of care and if tobacco companies will be compelled to foot the bill.

The Lung Cancer Alliance has written to the National Cancer Institute, which is running the study, to complain about possible conflicts of interest by University of California radiologist Denise Aberle, one of the study's two national leaders, and Dartmouth College radiologist William Black, a study-site leader.

Aberle testified during a 2003 lawsuit on behalf of American Tobacco Co. that it would be "reckless or irresponsible to promote" CT screens, while Black testified on behalf of Philip Morris in a New York case and stated that CT screening "may do more harm than good."

The Lung Cancer Alliance may have a conflict of its own, however: it is partly funded by General Electric, which makes CT scanners.