Could a blood test be used to detect lung cancer?

Researchers are in the early stages of developing a blood test that could be used to detect lung cancer.

In a new study, published in the journal Nature Medicine, scientists describe how they could detect signs of a tumour in the blood of people with lung cancer.

The blood of people with cancer contains DNA from the tumour, which may enter the blood after some of the tumour cells naturally die. Researchers developed a technique called CAPP-Seq to detect small amounts of the tumour in a person’s blood.

The researchers believe this is a promising technique that could potentially have a role one day in monitoring cancer progression and response to treatment, and possibly even in screening and diagnosis.

However, it has only been tested on a small number of people. Further studies will be needed to see the best ways to use it and how well it works for other cancers.

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