Med Headlines - Recent study done by Duke University Medical Center suggests that a blood test may may be useful in detecting lung cancer. The test measures the levels of four markers in the blood, CEA, RBP, SCC and AAT.

The study compared the levels of the four markers in the blood of 100 patients diagnosed with cancer and 100 controls. While all four proteins have been associated with lung cancer, none of them is of diagnostic value if measured separately. However, if analyzed in combination, they are 80% accurate, according to the study.

More studies need to be done to fully evaluate the potential test. However, if it proves to be accurate, it may one day replace more invasive follow-up tests currently available.

“CT scans have a very high false positive rate when trying to discover lung cancer,” said Edward Patz, Jr., M.D., a radiologist at Duke and lead investigator on the study. “What that leads to is several follow-up imaging studies or invasive procedures like biopsy, which have risks of their own. This study is the first step in developing a test that would allow us to sample a patient’s blood and determine whether more invasive testing and treatment are necessary.”

The study was published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.