January 10, 2022 – A blood test, combined with a risk model based on an individual’s history, more accurately determines who is likely to benefit from lung cancer screening than the current U.S. recommendation, according to a study published today in the Journal of Clinical Oncology led by researchers from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.
A personalized lung cancer risk assessment, combining a blood test based on a four-marker protein panel developed at MD Anderson and an independent model (PLCOm2012) that accounts for smoking history, was more sensitive and specific than the 2021 and 2013 U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) criteria. The study included participants from the Prostate, Lung, Colorectal, and Ovarian (PLCO) Cancer Screening Trial with at least a 10 pack-year smoking history. If implemented, the blood test plus model would have identified 9.2% more lung cancer cases for screening and reduced referral to screening among non-cases by 13.7% compared to the 2021 USPSTF criteria.
“We recognize that a small percentage of people who are eligible for lung cancer screening through an annual low-dose CT scan are actually getting screening. Moreover, CT screening is not readily available in most countries. So, our goal, for many years, has been to develop a simple blood test that can be used first to determine need for screening and make screening for lung cancer that much more effective,” said Sam Hanash, M.D., Ph.D., professor of Clinical Cancer Prevention and leader of the McCombs Institute for the Early Detection and Treatment of Cancer. “Our study shows for the first time that a blood test could be useful to determine who may benefit from lung cancer screening.”
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