Screening May Point to Lung Cancer Before Symptoms Arise

WEDNESDAY, Sept. 17 (HealthDay News) -- Diagnosing lung cancer before symptoms become evident may be possible by screening for autoantibodies to particular antigens, according to research published online Sept. 15 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

Ji Qiu, of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, and colleagues analyzed blood samples from 85 individuals taken within a year before lung cancer diagnosis and 85 matched controls. The researchers report that autoantibodies to three antigens -- annexin I, 14-3-3 theta, and LAMR1 -- precede onset of symptoms.

Autoantibodies against all three were significantly elevated in samples from patients with pre-clinical lung cancer compared with controls who didn't develop the disease during follow-up, the investigators found. The combined area under the curve for all three antigens in the disease group versus controls was 0.73. The sensitivity and specificity at the optimal cutoff point were 51 percent and 82 percent, the report indicates.

"While significant reactivity with pre-diagnostic sera was observed in this study for a small panel of antigenic proteins, consideration of a screening modality for lung cancer that includes testing for autoantibodies would depend on the availability of additional antigenic targets to augment the sensitivity and specificity achieved in this study. An initial application of such a panel may be in conjunction with an imaging screening modality for subjects at an increased risk for lung cancer," the authors conclude.

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