08/18/06
Researchers say they have developed a test that can predict with near certainty whether the most common form of lung cancer will return after surgery.
The new test could save tens of thousands of lives every year by letting physicians prescribe more aggressive treatments for patients whose cancers are likely to reappear, according to the team of scientists who developed it at Duke University.
Called the Lung Metagene Predictor, and described in the Aug. 10 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, the test scans the genetic material of non-small cell lung cancer to identify patterns that occur in cancers that are likely to reappear. It is 90% accurate, its developers said.
Non-small-cell cancers, if caught early, are usually treated with surgery, whereas small-cell cancers typically are treated with chemotherapy. In one-third of the patients who undergo surgery, the cancer will reappear.
