A blood test that can detect one of the forms of lung cancer before it takes hold may become possible following new Russian research.

Alexandr Bazhin of the Belozersky Institute of Physico-Chemical Biology at Moscow State University and colleagues say they have discovered a series of antibody markers that could form the basis of a new screening tool for 'small cell' lung cancer.

They report their findings in next month's issue of the European Respiratory Journal.

Cancerous cells are known to express protein 'antigens' that are alien to the body, leading it to produce antibodies that attack them in response. Several studies have shown it is possible to identify the antibodies in the serum of cancer sufferers.

In theory, such antibodies could be used as 'markers' for tumours; but in practice, attempts to use individual antibodies as markers have failed.

Bazhin and colleagues decided to take advantage of the fact that cancers don't just produce one antigen and antibody reaction, but a whole raft of them. The researchers extracted the antigens from a piece of small cell lung cancer to test for antibodies in people with the same type of cancer.

They confirmed previous findings that no antibody, in isolation, can be used to reliably test for the cancer. The problem is that certain antibodies are also found in people with other types of cancer, and some were even found, albeit rarely, in people with no cancer.

"This was the reason why we sought to determine whether there was a particular set or profile of antibodies relatively specific to small cell lung cancer," wrote Bazhin. "This proved to be an especially fruitful approach, since the profile we found in the serum of patients with that particular cancer was only rarely found in those with other types of cancer, and it was practically never found in the control subjects."

Bazhin and colleagues also tested the antibody profile in a group of people who are at high risk from developing lung cancer due to exposure to radiation from the clean-up of the Chernobyl nuclear reactor in the Ukraine, which suffered a partial meltdown in 1986.

They found similarities in the profile and now plan to follow the Chernobyl group to test the predictive value of the antibody profile.

The hope is they can develop a simple blood test for small cell carcinomas that could be offered to smokers and other people at high risk for lung cancer.

According to John Wheatley, an Associate Professor in Respiratory Medicine at Westmead Hospital in Sydney, scientists are keen to find a method of detecting lung cancer earlier.

Cancers in the lung are usually well established by the time they are noticed, and are more likely spread to other places in the body, he said. They are therefore less treatable with surgery, and chemotherapy and radiotherapy are used to relieve symptoms rather than treat the disease.

Wheatley said that although an early detection method for lung cancer would be welcome, the new research was only relevant to small cell cancers, which represent 20 per cent of lung cancers. Although the approach might be relevant to other lung cancers, small cell tumours were particularly high producers of antigens, he said.

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