Dundee Uni led study finds blood test can detect lung cancer earlier

Other universities such as St Andrews took part in the research which found it can find proteins four years quicker than standard practice

Author: Callum ClarkPublished 9th Sep 2019
Last updated 9th Sep 2019

Lung cancer can now be spotted quicker through a new blood test after research led by Dundee Uni.

Other universities such as St Andrews took part in the study which found it can find proteins four years quicker than current standard practice.

The test has been created by a world leading early detection cancer firm, Oncimmune.

The study looked at 12,000 volunteers in Scotland focusing on adults aged 50 to 75 who were at a high risk of developing cancer over the next 24 hours.

Professor Frank Sullivan, co-chief investigator of the study, said, “This study moves us closer to making an earlier diagnosis of lung cancer, which could have a significant impact in saving lives.

“Lung cancer has been notoriously difficult to spot early and to treat. Scanning produces a lot of `false positive’ results, which then place demand on resources as they are followed up and investigated.

“The blood test, followed by imaging may be better at identifying those people who actually have cancer. This could reduce by about two-thirds the amount of imaging needed to determine whether someone at high risk actually has lung cancer.

“The question we need to answer next is whether a combination of blood testing and imaging can offer a real step-change in lung cancer diagnosis.

Rebecca Allison was diagnosed as a result of the test, she believes she's alive as a result of it.

"I've still got my family around me, I can see my children and grandchildren growing up," she said.

"I'm perfectly healthy now."