CORONADO, Calif., Jan. 13 (UPI) -- A study of a new blood test to detect lung cancer in its earliest stages says results look hopeful, researchers meeting in California said.
WebMD said Wednesday the senior author of the study, Dr. Steven Dubinett of UCLA presented his research at the American Association for Cancer Research-International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer's joint conference in Coronado, Calif., Tuesday.
Building on the research of others, Dubinett found a collection of biomarkers made of proteins if there is a cancer or cancerous progression of cells.
The researchers found lung cancer patients possessed 33 out of 40 biomarkers as opposed those not diagnosed with lung cancer, WebMD reported.
If the blood test is perfected, it is expected to spare patients suspected of lung cancer the need of invasive procedures such as biopsies.
Dubinett said although the test looks promising, it is going to take some time before it can be used.
"It will take a couple more years of testing in an appropriate clinical setting," he told WebMD. "It might take three or four more years before these tests are clinically available."
