Researchers discover lung cancer earlier through new blood test

Life-saving for COPD patients: blood test for the early detection of lung cancer

Although the life expectancy of people with cancer has risen across Europe in recent years, significantly more patients could be better treated if their condition were diagnosed earlier. Researchers now want to develop a new blood test to help detect early lung cancer in COPD patients.

New lung cancer test could save lives

According to the German respiratory league, three to five million people in Germany alone suffer from COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease). According to health experts, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, also popularly known as smoker's cough, is the third leading cause of death worldwide. In addition, COPD patients have a particularly high risk of developing lung cancer in addition to their incurable lung disease. German researchers now want to develop a blood test that provides early information about whether the affected have already formed a tumor. Such a test could save lives, because the earlier a lung tumor is detected, the better the treatment options.

A German research team wants to develop a new blood test, which should contribute to the early detection of lung cancer in COPD patients. (Image: StudioLaMagica / fotolia.com)

Bronchial carcinoma is often recognized late

"You have lung cancer!" - a shocking news for the patients. Because the bronchial carcinoma, so the medical term for lung cancer, is usually recognized late and is then life-threatening, reports the German Cancer Aid in a statement.

An early diagnosis is therefore important to improve the chances of recovery of lung cancer patients.

So far, however, no method is suitable for a broad early detection because all previous methods are too inaccurate and can also lead to misdiagnosis.

This is especially serious for COPD patients as they are at high risk for lung cancer.

Cancer diagnosis by breathing air

But new research results give hope. For example, researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Heart and Lung Research in Bad Nauheim reported last year on a procedure that can detect the disease at an early stage.

In this - not yet ready for the market - rapid test, a diagnosis by breathing air should be possible.

"Breath-air analysis may make lung cancer detection easier and more reliable in the early stages, but it will not be able to completely replace traditional techniques," said Guillermo Barreto, head of the Max Planck Institute in Bad Nauheim.

"However, it can be used as an adjunct to better recognize early stages of cancer and reduce false-positive diagnoses."

Early cancer diagnostics through biomarkers

There may also be a simple blood test soon to prove that patients with COPD have lung cancer or not.

This test is currently being developed by scientists led by Professor Eckart Meese at the Institute for Human Genetics in cooperation with Professor dr. Robert Bals, Professor Andreas Keller and Professor dr. Hans-Peter Lenhof, Center for Bioinformatics of the University of the Saarland.

Her approach: biomarkers in the blood of patients indicate a possible tumor.

Fate: MicroRNAs

Previous research results of the project leader Meese show that so-called microRNAs are promising biomarkers for lung cancer.

MicroRNAs are small molecules that play an important role in the reading and processing of genetic information: they switch off unnecessary gene segments and thus control which proteins are produced in a cell.

In abnormally altered cells, microRNAs have a different molecular fingerprint than in healthy cells.

"MicroRNAs can be detected in the blood and can thus provide information on an existing disease. This would be an important step for cancer screening, "Meese said. The human geneticist and his team are studying the blood of COPD patients for the telltale molecules.

"Our goal is to use micro-RNAs as a biomarker for lung cancer. If we succeed in establishing the method, the chances of recovery of those affected increase. "This procedure has also yielded relevant results in patients with prostate or pancreatic cancer.

"Until the advanced, interdisciplinary procedure is conceivable as routine diagnostics, however, much research work will still be necessary", explained the project manager.

"If a blood sample for a reliable cancer diagnosis is sufficient in the future, this would be a decisive breakthrough for improved diagnostic procedures and increasing chances of recovery," said Gerd Nettekoven, Chairman of the Board of the German Cancer Aid.

Background information lung cancer

According to estimates by the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) in Berlin, around 55,000 people are diagnosed with lung cancer each year across Germany. It is the second most common cancer in men and the third most common in women.

With approximately 35,000 new cases per year, men are significantly more affected than women. However, the number of women is steadily rising. The cause: more and more women smoke.

Thus, since the 1970s, in women, a threefold increase in the lung cancer rate, in men, this has fallen by a quarter.

The lung cancer death rate in women has also increased in recent years. (Ad)