Lung Cancer - Physicians

Detecting Lung Cancer

Current methods for lung cancer diagnosis include x-ray, CT scan, MRI, PET, biopsy, sputum cytology, bronchoscopy, and thoracoscopy. There has never before been a good technique to screen for lung cancer. In fact, the American Cancer Society notes that because lung cancer often spreads beyond the lungs before it causes symptoms, a good screening test to find lung cancer early could save many lives.1

Biomarkers and Screening

Fortunately, blood tests can now uncover biomarkers that are early indicators for lung cancer. These developments have made lung cancer prognosis more hopeful including aid in diagnosing between non-small cell lung cancer and small cell lung cancer, estimating disease prognosis and progression, monitoring recurrence after treatment, and vastly improving screening.

Screening programs should aim to find lung cancer at an early stage when there are more options. It has been shown that screening with multiple circulating tumor markers provides improved sensitivity for cancer detection in people not showing symptoms before they reach the fatal, advanced stage.2

Screening could become part of an annual physical, especially for high-risk patients-those who may fall within the 34 percent of the population who have gene variants that can make them more susceptible to lung cancer.3

Lung Cancer Biomarker Tests

Tests for lung cancer biomarkers are reliable, accurate, non-invasive, and affordable diagnostic tools. Abbott Laboratories recently launched ARCHITECT ProGRP as a marker for Small Cell Lung Cancer. ProGRP is a precursor of gastrin releasing peptide (GRP), which is a hormone secreted from neuroendocrine cells. Neuroendocrine type tumors include small cell lung cancer. This test is used to aid in the differential diagnosis of lung cancer and disease management, both in conjunction with other clinical methods.

Benefits of Biomarker Testing

Biomarkers provide physicians with easily administered and cost effective tests, like Abbott's ARCHITECT ProGRP, that can accurately identify lung cancer at earlier stages through screening programs and provide valuable prognostic information for your lung cancer patients. You can let your patients know faster if their tumors are benign or cancerous, giving them more peace of mind. Plus, early detection and therapeutic intervention can improve their survival rates and quality of life. Simply put, biomarker tests can improve the care you are able to administer to patients and ultimately those patients' lives.

It's called the 90/10 survival curve-catch cancer early and there's a 90 percent survival rate but catch it in its later stages and chances of survival are only 10 percent.4 Early detection of lung cancer is the key to improving the outcome of the disease. The signs are there. And now you can help find them.

Lung Cancer Case Study [PDF/7.6 MB]

References

¹American Cancer Society
²Journal of Clinical Laboratory Analysis 20: 42-46 (2006)
³http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1727161,00.html
⁴Wired Magazine