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"Developing a blood test to detect lung cancer is increasingly within reach," the `Daily Express` quoted Hanash as saying.
Previously undiscovered protein molecules in the blood of sufferers could be key to developing the test -- an alternative to invasive diagnostic methods. The molecules,
initially discovered in mice, were found to be similar in humans, says the team.
The discovery may lead not only to a blood test that can diagnose lung cancer, but which can distinguish between various types of the disease.
Dr Hanash added: "There is a substantial need for simple, noninvasive means to detect lung cancer. While imaging-based screening to detect lung cancer has shown promise, blood-based diagnostics provide a complementary means for detection,
disease classification, and monitoring for cancer progression and regression."
In fact, experiments with mice led the scientists to identify a "signature" of protein molecules also present in humans with the disease.
Further research will now be carried out to determine how reliable the test would be, they say.