A blood test, combined with a risk prediction model based on an individual’s history, can help accurately determine who is likely to benefit from lung cancer screening, according to a very recent study published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology led by researchers from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. This personalized lung cancer risk assessment, combining a blood test based on a four-marker protein panel, is more sensitive and specific than the 2021 and 2013 US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) criteria. The study, which included participants from the Prostate, Lung, Colorectal, and Ovarian (PLCO) Cancer Screening Trial with at least a 10 pack-year smoking history, said 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.  

 The researchers wrote in the report that they recognized that only a small percentage of people who actually are eligible for lung cancer screening through an annual low-dose CT scan get screened. “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 lead author Dr Sam Hanash, Professor of Clinical Cancer Prevention and leader of the McCombs Institute for the Early Detection and Treatment of Cancer. This study shows for the first time that a blood test could be useful to determine who may benefit from lung cancer screening, the researchers wrote.