Detect lung cancer in the blood earlier

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Lung cancer is common - and far too often it is fatal. Because with the usual examination methods it is usually recognized very late. That could change: thanks to a new type of blood test.

American researchers have developed the test method with which non-small-cell lung cancer can be detected much earlier than before. They found a special protein in the blood of test subjects that is significantly higher in cancer patients than in healthy people. This already succeeds six months before a cancer diagnosis could be made using the usual methods - that is, x-rays and computed tomography.

Biomarkers show the way

The search is aimed at suitable metabolic products in blood and tissue - so-called biomarkers - that could be associated with lung cancer. To this end, researchers working with Oliver Fiehn from the University of California analyzed blood samples from test subjects who had had blood drawn regularly since the 1980s as part of another study.

Many of the subjects had already developed lung tumors without the cancer being diagnosed. The reason: For the first study, heavy smokers and other risk patients were deliberately selected in order to investigate a completely different medical question. A stroke of luck for the Californian scientists, who years later were able to access blood samples that were ideally suited to their question.

80 percent predictive power

Thanks to a new analysis method with which all metabolic products in body cells and tissues can be systematically examined for abnormal values, the researchers actually found what they were looking for. The concentration of the molecule diacetylspermine in the blood of some patients was almost twice that of normal. Lung cancer was diagnosed in 70 percent of these “suspicious” subjects - but only six months later.

If the researchers also included the occurrence of another biomarker called pro-SFTPB in their analyzes, the predictive power for lung cancer rose to 80 percent. "Eight out of ten sick people can be identified at an early stage of lung cancer," says Fiehn, summarizing the results.

These findings are encouraging: The biomarkers could form the basis for the development of as yet missing, uncomplicated and safe tests for the early detection of lung cancer.

Most common cause of cancer death

Lung cancer is still one of the most common types of cancer in Germany. In 2014, around 36,000 men and 20,000 women fell ill in Germany alone. He is still recognized very late. The tragic consequence: the cancer is already at a stage at which it can only be treated very poorly. The statistics speak for themselves: lung cancer is the number one cause of cancer-related deaths. According to the Robert Koch Institute, 14 to 19 percent of patients do not survive the next five years after diagnosis.

Source:

W. R. Wikoff et al. Diacetylspermine Is a Novel Prediagnostic Serum Biomarker for Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer and Has Additive Performance With Pro-Surfactant Protein B. Journal of Clinical Oncology, 2015;

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