New Blood Test Screens
For Lung Cancer Before X-rays can Detect it - Non-Small Cell Most Common
Diagnosed Lung Cancer
July 16th 2006
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Lung Cancer |
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A new blood test can detect non-small cell lung cancer long before it
can be detected by an X-ray or computed tomography (CT) scans. When
tested on people being treated for lung cancer, they have been
successful in positively identifying 90 percent of cases. There have
been very few false positive cases when samples were taken from people
who did not have cancer.
Early detection of non-small cell lung cancer is important because the
average five-year survival rate of only 40 per cent. Early detection
may save lives. This is the first new cancer blood screening test since
the development of the prostate cancer PSA screening test.
The test works by identifying the bodies own immune response to the
cancer. This can take place long before the tumor is large enough to be
detected by CT or X-ray. The authors wrote “Based on doubling times, a
lung cancer can be present three to five years before reaching the
conventional size limits of radiographic detection."
The researchers tested samples of blood taken years before the
diagnosis. They found that their test positively identified the cancer
in four out of seven samples taken a year before diagnoses, and in all
18 samples taken two, three and four years earlier, according to
theage.com.
Non-small cell lung cancer is the most common form of lung cancer.
Worldwide, it is estimated that 10 million people per year are diagnosed
with it, and half of those die within the first year of diagnosis. Lung
cancer kills more people than any other cancer, and by the time patients
are diagnosed it is usually too late to save them.
The authors wrote “These data suggest antibody profiling could be a
powerful tool for early detection when incorporated into a comprehensive
screening strategy”. The test has been licensed to the US company 20/20
GeneSystems, and the research appears in the Journal of Thoracic
Oncology.
Dan Wilson
Best Syndication
Books on Cancer
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