New blood test could detect lung cancer five years before traditional scans

A blood test has been developed that may allow doctors to spot signs of lung cancer up to five years before it shows up on traditional scans.

Early results from a major trial show how antibodies produced by the immune system in response to lung cancer could be used as a diagnostic tool.

Of around 6,000 high-risk patients screened, about one in 10 tested positive for the antibodies. From this group, 207 were found to have lumps in the lungs that could be either cancerous or benign.

And so far, chest X-rays and CT scans have confirmed 16 cases of lung cancer among the patients who tested positive – three quarters of which were at an early stage.

More research is needed to assess the potentially life-saving test, but experts think it has the potential to bring cancers to light that would otherwise stay hidden for years.

The Scottish study recruited 12,000 adults aged 50 to 75 who were at high risk of lung cancer after smoking heavily for 20 years or more or because of their family history.

Half were given the antibody blood test while the rest received standard forms of diagnosis and care.

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Each year, more than 46,000 people are diagnosed with lung cancer in the UK and more than 35,500 die from the disease.

Dr Stuart Schembri, from the University of Dundee, who co-led the research, said: “Lung cancer is a serious and life-threatening illness and our best hope for successful treatment is to detect it as early as possible.”

He added: “Heavy smokers are particularly at risk, but it is just not possible to scan everyone who is considered high risk. And within those who are scanned, a CT scan alone can falsely suggest lung cancer or pick up incidental, non-clinically relevant findings, causing unnecessary worry and expense.

“We therefore need to find a way to identify which of the people at high-risk need a scan and a way to detect lung cancer before patients present with symptoms.”

The new test allows doctors to scan “from a much more informed position” and prevents the stress caused by putting a patient through an unnecessary CT scan, he said.

“But most importantly, we feel it may help us to detect lung cancer in its earliest stages when we have an improved chance of successful treatment.”

Results from the research were presented at the British Thoracic Society (BTS) Winter Meeting in London.