Early lung cancer marker shows promise:
This article was originally published in Clinica
Executive Summary
A peptide in blood or sputum could provide a sensitive marker for the early diagnosis of lung cancer. Magnus von Knebel Doeberitz of the University of Heidelberg in Germany, and colleagues used a reverse transcriptase PCR test to study 175 patients suspected of having lung cancer. They found that preprogastrin-releasing peptide was present in 50% of blood samples and 22% of sputum samples from small-cell lung cancer patients. The blood test also identified 27% of non-small-cell lung cancer patients. The findings appear in the International Journal of Cancer (April).