Three research teams are developing noninvasive, cost-effective screening tools to improve lung cancer detection rates among smokers and non-smokers.
RT’s Three Key Takeaways:
- Low Screening Uptake: While low-dose CT scans reduce mortality, participation remains low among high-risk individuals, necessitating easier screening options.
- Noninvasive Modalities: Funded projects are exploring nasal brushes, blood-based Raman spectroscopy, and autoantibody detection to identify lung cancer earlier.
- Expanding Patient Populations: New tests aim to reach populations currently ineligible for standard screening, including people who have never smoked.
Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C) awarded funding to three research teams to develop noninvasive tests for the early detection of lung cancer, according to the organization. The awards represent the first round of the SU2C Lung Cancer Early Detection Challenge, which was launched to accelerate the development of cost-effective liquid biopsy-based screening tests.
Although annual screening with low-dose computed tomography (CT) is proven to reduce the risk of lung cancer mortality, uptake has been poor among those recommended for screening, such as long-term current or past heavy smokers. Additionally, lung cancer rates are increasing among individuals who do not meet current eligibility criteria, including people who have never smoked, according to a news release.
The teams receiving funding are investigating approaches to early detection with the goal of developing tests that are accurate and can be easily employed in different healthcare settings.
“Lung cancer is still the number one cause of cancer death and more and more people who have never smoked or don’t have other known risk factors are being diagnosed with this deadly disease,” said Julian Adams, president and CEO of SU2C. “We know that, as a screening test, low-dose CT can save lives. Unfortunately, use of this screening modality is extremely low, and cost-effective, easy-to-use options for lung cancer screening are desperately needed.”
Data from these three projects will help inform the second round of the program, which will include prospective studies of the most promising modalities and the use of machine-learning models to identify which should move forward for continued development.
The funded projects include:
Nasal Brush Biomarkers Led by Cecilia Yeung, MD, of Fred Hutch Cancer Center, and James Willey, MD, of UToledo Health, this project investigates a test that identifies TP53 mutations in cells collected via a nasal brush. The research builds on data showing a strong association between these mutations in airway epithelial cells and lung cancer. The goal is to develop a lower-cost and noninvasive alternative to bronchoscopy-based airway sampling for people at high risk who would benefit from annual low-dose CT screening.
Raman Biofluid Assay Led by Paul Scott, JD, and Timothy Triche, MD, PhD, of Avrok Biosciences, this project focuses on a blood-based assay that combines Raman spectroscopy and artificial intelligence to identify early signals of lung cancer. In testing on hundreds of clinical samples, the assay has demonstrated high sensitivity and specificity in differentiating early lung cancer from healthy controls, according to a news release.
Autoantibody Targeting Led by Paul Lampe, PhD, and Kristin Lastwika, PhD, of Fred Hutch Cancer Center, this project supports the development of an assay that detects immune-based biomarkers called autoantibody-antigen complexes. These complexes are specific to subtypes of lung cancer, including small cell lung cancer and squamous cell carcinoma. Earlier studies have shown the assay can identify lung cancer from samples collected two years or more before diagnosis.
“Although treatments for lung cancer, including advanced lung cancer, have improved, catching this disease as early as possible is still the best hope for a cure,” said Adams, president and CEO of SU2C. “With this program, we’re challenging these teams to use advanced technologies and novel approaches to make early detection of lung cancer far more commonplace than it is today—saving potentially thousands upon thousands of lives in the process.”
