Australian study identifies early blood marker for lung cancer risk

MELBOURNE — A newly identified "blood signature" may predict lung cancer risk more than five years before diagnosis, offering a potential pathway to earlier prevention, a study has revealed.

The findings, published in Cell, could help identify people who would benefit from preventative drugs, even before they receive a lung cancer diagnosis, said a statement from Australia's Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research (WEHI) released Friday.

The study analysed over 48,000 blood samples, identifying a 14-protein signature that predicted lung cancer risk within five years and was validated across eight international datasets, including in non-smokers.

Researchers suggested that the signature does not come from the tumour itself, but reflects an altered inflammatory lung environment that precedes cancer, highlighting a pre-disease phase in which intervention may be possible, reports Xinhua news agency.

Lung cancer remains the leading cause of cancer deaths globally, and current screening programs are limited to older people with a history of smoking, leaving many cases undetected until late stages, the study noted.

WEHI laboratory head Clare Weeden, a corresponding author on the paper, said the study could lead to more inclusive and effective screening approaches for people in Australia and across the world.

"In doing so, these findings bring us closer to a future where early intervention is possible, even before the cancer has a chance to develop," said Weeden, who conducted the research during her time at the Francis Crick Institute in Britain.

Charlie Swanton, clinical research director at the Crick Institute, said the study supports a growing idea that some common age-related diseases share a "common, presymptomatic state of inflammation," and that the signature could eventually help predict and prevent lung cancer and other lung diseases.