Early Diagnosis of Lung Cancer

RemwesMedical — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 19:45:31 +0000

There is a new test being developed which promises to help doctors find lung cancers at an early point in the growth of the cancer. If this test indeed is as successful as it promises to be, this could be an enormous breakthrough in the care and treatment of lung cancer. The key with lung cancer is to be able to find it as early as possible in order to remove it surgically. For years, doctors have been trying to find ways to determine as early as possible if someone has lung cancer in order to be able to take that person to surgery as soon and as early as possible and thereby save his or her life.
Researchers at the David Geffen School of Medicine of the University of California at Los Angeles system have identified a group of 40 proteins that, if found in the blood of someone suspected of having lung cancer, may indeed be able to predict that he or she may or may not have lung cancer.
The researchers tested for this group of 40 proteins in patients who were found to have a “spot” on their x-ray and who were, as a result, in danger of possibly having lung cancer. Their results showed that of the patients who did indeed have lung cancer, the 40 protein group predicted that they would have lung cancer 88% of the time. Equally important, of the patients who did not have lung cancer, the group of 40 proteins predicted that they would not have lung cancer almost 80% of the time.
These are as yet very early findings and will need to be repeated and proven over and over again before this test can become available for all to use, but the key is that if indeed this test proves to be as useful as these early results suggest, this could be a great new weapon in the fight against lung cancer. If this test proves to be as effective as it now seems, we may soon be able to do a chest x ray on someone and if the chest x ray shows a “spot” in the lungs, we can then draw blood for these 40 proteins. If the test for these 40 proteins is positive, this would then give us a strong reason to try to remove the spot in the lung surgically. If the test for the 40 proteins is negative, this would give us a reason why to perhaps not do surgery at that time and just keep an eye on the spot in the lungs to see if it grows over time. These and many other concepts about lung cancer are covered in clear and easy to understand language in the Lung Cancer audio CD available on the web site www.CancerInPlainEnglish.com

new tests for lung cancer – Cancer In Plain English – Cancer Information

Early Diagnosis of Lung Cancer