New cancer-screening strategy uses the immune system to signal early signs of disease

SEATTLE A team of researchers led by Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center reports online toda: y in the Journal of Clinical Oncology the validation of a potential "HIV-test" equivalent for the early detection of lung cancer. The test, which relies on immune-system signals, much like an HIV test, can detect the presence of lung cancer a year prior to diagnosis, long before symptoms appear. "This kind of immune response won't necessarily kill the tumor, but it can act as a canary in a coal mine, signaling lung cancer at an early stage, before actual symptoms emerge," said Hanash, head of the Molecular Diagnostic Program in the Public Health Sciences Division at the Hutchinson Center. "It is an important step toward developing a biomarker-based blood test for the early detection of lung cancer."