The main method of screening for lung cancer has been a low-dose CT screening that is often highly reliable and even has saved lives. However, it’s expensive and some results found suspicious during screening are later revealed to be benign. During that time, patients may undergo additional screenings and even procedures that they never needed which end up costing them. Now, Ynet reports that Tel Aviv University has developed a new blood test that uses a simpler method and costs much less to detect lung cancer.
The test expands on the method of testing blood rather than a biopsy of the tumor. Blood tests sequence DNA to find any that matches that of cancer. However, specialized computers are required to do this which leads to more expenses for the patients. Instead of using computers and sequencing, Tel Aviv University’s test uses light.
The process begins by extracting cell-free DNA from a blood sample and labeling it with a fluorescent substance. The DNA is then placed on a specialized chip and scanned using optical technology. The result is a pattern of illuminated dots resembling a QR code. A computational model reads the pattern and attempts to determine whether it contains the signature associated with lung cancer.
The study included 103 people: 51 lung cancer patients and 52 healthy control subjects. After training the model, we developed a signature based on 170 regions of the genome. We then tested it in a blinded analysis of a separate validation group that the model had not previously encountered.
The results were encouraging. Among patients with stages 2 through 4 lung cancer, the test correctly detected 93.1% of cancer cases, a measure of its sensitivity. At the same time, it correctly classified 90.3% of the healthy participants, a measure of its specificity. The test was also able to distinguish between the two main subtypes of lung cancer.
Additional trials are underway in Israel and Europe as researchers investigate whether the test can not only diagnose lung cancer but also monitor treatment and determine whether it is working. Larger studies will be needed to confirm the findings. While the test is still some way from routine medical use, the method could represent a breakthrough for two reasons: its approximate cost of $60, compared with the hundreds of dollars a CT scan can cost, and its potential to detect lung cancer early.
Lung cancer remains one of the most common types of cancer and is often discovered at later stages, when treatment is more complex. One reason is that many people do not have regular access to screening. Tel Aviv University’s research offers hope for a potentially more accessible way to help close that gap.