Catching Lung Cancer Early
Reported December 07, 2009
(Ivanhoe Newswire) The discovery of genetic markers in the blood which indicate early-stage lung tumors could lead to a simple blood test to detect lung cancer in its earliest phases, when it can be most successfully treated.
Lung cancer is the most commonly occurring cancer in both men and women in the United States, accounting for 162,000 deaths in 2008, more than any other cancer.
Detecting cancer at its earliest stages would greatly improve the likelihood of survival, but no simple and accurate screening test such as mammography for breast cancer or colonoscopy for colon cancer exists for lung cancer. In addition, early-stage lung cancers show few symptoms and tend to spread rapidly before they are found.
Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania and New York University examined gene expression profiles in blood samples from more than 200 patients with lung cancer or other, non-malignant, lung diseases. Focusing on non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), the researchers sought to determine whether lung tumorseven at the earliest stagesleave a gene expression signature in circulating blood cells.
For the study, peripheral blood was drawn from lung disease patients at the University of Pennsylvania Medical Center (Penn) and the New York University School of Medicine from 2003 through 2007. The research team was able to identify a 29-gene “signature” that separated 137 patients with NSCLC tumors from 91 patient controls with non-malignant lung conditions with 86 percent accuracy.
“People routinely get blood taken at their doctor’s offices, for cholesterol levels, diabetes, and other standard tests, so why not utilize this method to screen for other conditions such as the risk of developing lung cancer?” Louise Showe, professor in Wistar’s Molecular and Cellular Oncology and Immunology programs and director of its genomics facility, was quoted as saying. “Such a test could be especially useful for remote areas where typically technologies that are used in urban centers are not available. In addition, this test could be useful in a clinical setting to help to decide whether a small tumor detected on an x-ray is likely to be malignant.”
SOURCE: Cancer Research, December 1, 2009