Blog Post

A groundbreaking study created a new blood test that could greatly increase the number of people screened for lung cancer and potentially save thousands of lives. A group of researchers from different institutions conducted this study, making it very easy to detect lung cancer early on. They looked at how cell-free DNA (cfDNA) breakage patterns change in blood samples.

The DELFI-L101 study screened participants for lung cancer based on their age and smoking history. Almost 1,000 people were screened. Using low-coverage whole-genome sequencing, the researchers looked at cfDNA fragmentation patterns, which show genomic and chromatin features of lung cancer.

Important points:

With 80% sensitivity and 58% specificity, the blood test was able to detect lung cancer in the individuals who should have undergone screening.

2. No changes in performance across subgroups: There were no changes in performance across different clinical and demographic subgroups, such as cancer stages and types.

The test was particularly good at detecting stage I lung cancers (71% of the time), which is critical for finding these cancers early.

Even a small percentage of the time, widespread use of this test could prevent thousands of lung cancer deaths over the next five years.

Real-life examples include:

People who qualify for but do not receive low-dose computed tomography (LDCT) scans, the current standard for lung cancer screening, could use a blood test as an initial screening tool.

Screening rates: Right now, only 6–10% of people who are eligible for lung cancer screenings actually do it. This less invasive blood test could potentially increase the number of eligible individuals undergoing testing.

3. Smart use of resources: If the blood test results are positive, LDCT will contact the individual, potentially enhancing the focus and effectiveness of the screening process.

The test results could help patients and doctors talk about whether or not they need LDCT screening.

Using this test on a large scale could help find lung cancer earlier, leading to better stage distributions and lower mortality rates for the population as a whole.

Issues and plans for the future:

Their study has some flaws, like the fact that it was a case-control design, but the experts are optimistic about it. To learn more about how well the test works in real-life screening situations, prospective cohort studies are still going on in the US and Europe.

We need to carefully look at how to add this blood test to current screening programs, as well as how much it will cost and how simple it will be to use.

To summarize,

With this new blood-based lung cancer test, we can take a big step toward beating the world’s most common cancer killer. By increasing the number of screenings and early detections, lung cancer could become less of a problem and we could potentially save more lives. This test could become an important part of nationwide lung cancer screening programs as more studies confirm its accuracy move forward.

https://doi.org/10.1158/2159-8290.CD-24-0519