New lung screening trial combines blood test with CT

A new trial at National Jewish Health in Denver is combining CT with a blood test in an effort to detect lung cancer earlier and more effectively.

Building on the success of the National Lung Screening Trial (NLST), which demonstrated lung cancer mortality reductions of about 20% following CT screening of smokers and former smokers, the new trial hopes to improve the results with a blood test known as EarlyCDT-Lung (Oncimmune). The blood test detects antibodies that may be detectable as long as five years before symptoms appear, National Jewish Health said.

Combining CT screening with biomarker tests, such as in the EarlyCDT-Lung trial, may help detect more cancers at an earlier stage, while reducing the number of biopsies or operations performed based on CT findings that turn out to be negative, the organization stated.

The trial is expected to screen 1,600 participants over four years; the participants will receive a low-dose lung CT scan and a blood test at no charge. Participants must be 50 to 75 years of age, have a smoking history of at least 20 years, and be a current or former smoker who quit fewer than 10 years ago.