Lung cancer is one of the most common cancers in the world. It is a leading cause of cancer death in men and women in the United States. Cigarette smoking causes most lung cancers. The more cigarettes you smoke per day and the earlier you started smoking, the greater your risk of lung cancer. High levels of pollution, radiation and asbestos exposure may also increase risk.
The problem with lung cancer is the diagnosis phase. By the time lung cancer is suspected, it is usually too late to treat successfully. Six out of 10 patients diagnosed with lung cancer die within the first year. The patient's outlook is bleak. Lung cancer remains the leading cause of cancer death in the United States. Lung cancer deaths outrank breast, colon and prostate cancers combined.
Now, research is developing a point-of-care microchip device that can determine the type, severity, and aggressiveness of a wide range of cancers by detecting tumor cells that are circulating in the blood stream. This new disposable microchip technology is capable of separating specific circulating tumor cells from whole human blood at concentrations as low as one in a billion.
Detecting the presence of these tumor cells at such low concentrations enables earlier intervention in the treatment of metastatic lung cancer. This point of care test can potentially transform patient care through early molecular diagnosis of lung cancer and identification of new biomarkers with which to track disease progression.
Sources
National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering
http://www.nibib.nih.gov/
Journal of the American Medical Association, 2007
http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/full/297/9/1022
National Institute of Health
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/lungcancer.html#cat57
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