According to the World Health Organization, lung cancer is the deadliest form of cancers in the United States and worldwide. One of the easy ways to early detect it, is yearly screening with CT scans in high-risk patients. Screening is recommended for those between 50 to 80 years of age and have a smoking history. But, only up to 10% of eligible individuals screen each year in US. To help overcome such issues, the team has developed a test that uses AI to detect patterns of DNA fragments found in lung cancer patients.
With use of artificial intelligence to identify patients of DNA fragments associated with lung cancer, the researchers have developed a liquid biopsy that may help to identify lung cancer at an early stage. According to the study published in Cancer Discovery, the artificial intelligence technology could identify people who are more likely to have lung cancer based on DNA fragment patterns in the blood. In this study, they enrolled about 1000 participants with or without cancer. This new blood test could help in improving screening and reducing death rates by identifying high-risk patients who would benefit from follow-up CT scans.
The researchers from the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center in US along with other institutions have developed and validated an AI-based liquid biopsy to help in early detection of lung cancer. This new blood test aims at enhancing the lung cancer screening rates and potentially lower mortality rates with early diagnosis of the disease. This will help to identify patients who are at most risk and would benefit from CT screening. According to computer modeling by the team, this could help in reducing death rates.
Johns Hopkins Cancer Genetics and Epigenetics programme co-director Victor Velculescu said: “We have a simple blood test that could be done in a doctor’s office that would tell patients whether they have potential signs of lung cancer and should get a follow-up CT scan.”
The information shared in this blog is for educational purposes only.
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