Blood Test To Detect Lung Cancer? ‘Warning Signals’ May Predict Disease Up To 5 Years Before Diagnosis
Blood Test To Detect Lung Cancer? ‘Warning Signals’ May Predict Disease Up To 5 Years Before Diagnosis Published By, Last Updated: June 06, 2026, 09:38
Blood Test To Detect Lung Cancer? ‘Warning Signals’ May Predict Disease Up To 5 Years Before Diagnosis Published By, Last Updated: June 06, 2026, 09:38 IST Experts are hopeful that the breakthrough can prove to be conducive to treating signs of lung cancer, one of the deadliest cancers, in advance Image for representation In what can be viewed as a significant milestone, scientists have identified warning signals in the blood that can predict lung cancer five years before the disease is actually diagnosed. Experts are hopeful that the breakthrough can prove to be conducive to treating signs of lung cancer — one of the deadliest cancers — in advance, where most patients are detected at advanced stages.
Published in ‘Cell’, the study focused on a 14-protein blood signature that identified risks of lung cancer about 5.6 years before the actual diagnosis. The development help experts enable early screening, and initiate preventive measures. ‘An Important Scientific Advance’ According to a report by Times of India, citing Dr Abhishek Shankar, radiation oncologist at AIIMS Delhi, the finding is a crucial scientific advance as it enables the possibility of identifying “high-risk individuals" years before cancers development in their bodies. “The blood-based protein signature does not detect a tumour but identifies people at higher risk of developing lung cancer in future. Such people can then undergo more definitive screening", he said.
According to researchers, blood samples and health data from over 48,000 participants in the UK biobank detected a combination of 14 proteins — combined with factors such as age, smoking history, and chronic lung disease —predicting future lung cancer more accurately than existing methods. Air Pollution Among Key Factors In one of the key highlights of the finding, researchers discovered that the protein signature was elevated not only in smokers but also in those exposed to air pollution. The findings were validated across eight international cohorts with over 2,000 lung cancer cases. The findings are relevant for India — where air pollution remains a major concern — as lung cancer cases have reportedly increased from about 63,700 in 2015 to 81,000 in 2025.
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