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(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- An immune-system test, similar to an HIV test, may hold the key to predicting lung cancer long before symptoms appear.
Researchers at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and the University of Michigan found that just as the immune system reacts to the presence of HIV by producing an antibody response, it also mounts a response against specific proteins produced by cancerous lung tumors in their early stages of development.
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This kind of immune response wont necessarily kill the tumor, but it can act as a canary in a coal mine, signaling lung cancer at an early stage, before actual symptoms emerge, Samir Hanash, M.D., Ph.D., head of the Molecular Diagnostic Program in the Public Health Sciences Division at the Hutchinson Center, was quoted as saying.
During their study, researchers conducted blinded analysis of blood samples from current or former smokers collected within a year of the lung cancer diagnosis and samples from current or former smokers who didnt go on to develop lung cancer. Using specifically identified biomarkers, analysis revealed autoantibodies, the proteins produced by lung tumors, were present in more than half of the people who later developed lung cancer.
Researchers say their initial goal is to be able to use such a blood test in conjunction with imaging techniques to improve the early detection of lung cancer in those at high risk.
SOURCE: Journal of Clinical Oncology, published online Sept. 15, 2008
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