According to the results of a study presented at the 2008 annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), an experimental blood test may eventually allow for earlier detection of lung cancer in smokers. The test assesses the presence of a lung cancer-associated RNA fingerprint in peripheral blood.

Lung cancer is responsible for more deaths in the United States than breast cancer, colon cancer, and prostate cancer combined. One of the main reasons that lung cancer remains so deadly is that it is often diagnosed at an advanced stage. Identification of accurate and cost-effective lung cancer screening tests therefore remains an important research priority.

Researchers in Germany recently developed a blood test that appears to identify early lung cancer in smokers. Based on initial work in small numbers of smokers with and without lung cancer, the researchers identified an RNA fingerprint in peripheral blood that was linked with the presence of lung cancer.

The researchers then assessed the ability of the test to predict lung cancer in smokers who had not yet been diagnosed with lung cancer. The analysis involved participants in the European Prospective Investigation on Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) study. Tests were performed on baseline blood samples from two groups of study participants: smokers who were diagnosed with lung cancer during the first two years of the study and a matched control group of smokers who were not diagnosed with lung cancer.

Among these individuals, the sensitivity of the test was 75% and the specificity was 85%.

Comments: These researchers conclude that this test may eventually be suitable for identifying patients with early lung cancer and predicting the occurrence of lung cancer within two years.

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Reference: Zander T, Debey-Pascher S, Eggle D et al. Predictive value of transcriptional changes in peripheral blood for future clinical onset of lung cancer in asymptomatic smokers. Proceedings from the 44th annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology. Chicago, IL. 2008. Abstract #1509.