A STUDY to detect the early stages of lung cancer using a blood test and machine learning has been launched by a team of Oxford scientists.

The team from Oxford University Hospitals, the Oxford Radcliffe Biobank and the local spin-out company Oxford Cancer Analytics (OXcan), will recruit 200 participants to identify cancer biomarkers.

These are molecules such as proteins found in blood that are a sign of lung cancer.

With this information, they will ultimately be able to determine from a simple liquid biopsy which patients have early-stage lung cancer.

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Lung cancer is by far the most common cause of cancer death in the UK, accounting for around 21 percent of deaths.

More than 75 percent of patients are diagnosed at an advanced stage, and this situation has worsened since the start of the covid pandemic.

Dr Daniel Szulc, chief product officer at OXcan, said: “When lung cancer is diagnosed early, a patient’s survival rate increases tenfold, which is why we are so eager to develop a test that detects lung cancer early.

"Patients can undergo surgical intervention with curative intent and ultimately improve survival.

“If successful, this could be easily incorporated into existing NHS programmes, to transform patients’ experience of cancer care pathways, reducing anxiety and improving quality of life for those at high risk of cancer, while reducing costs and resulting in substantial financial benefits for the NHS. “

Dr Ella Mi, NIHR academic clinical fellow in medical oncology at University of Oxford and OUH, said: “We want to see if it’s possible to detect lung cancer earlier than a CT scan.

"The tumour would have to be a certain size to be picked up by a CT scan, whereas we anticipate we will be able to detect the biomarkers much earlier.

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“Proteomics is a rapidly developing area. It offers a great opportunity to discover accurate biomarker signatures for lung cancer - and has the potential to be used in the future for other deadly cancers. This is the first trial of its kind at OUH, and we are excited to see if it can help to achieve the higher rates of early detection we need to save more lives.”

Dr Peter Liu, CEO of OXcan said: “This clinical study is an exciting milestone as we work with world-class partners in the NHS and the University of Oxford and deploy a new generation of liquid biopsy tests that can be synergistic and complementary to existing approaches.”

Patients interested in participating in the study should contact david.maldonado-perez@nds.ox.ac.uk

Clinicians who want to learn more about the study should contact: d.szulc@oxcan.org

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This story was written by Anna Colivicchi, she joined the team this year and covers health stories for the Oxfordshire papers. 

Get in touch with her by emailing: Anna.colivicchi@newsquest.co.uk

Follow her on Twitter @AnnaColivicchi