New Technique Holds Promise for Early Non-Invasive Detection of Lung Cancer

While early detection is critical for improving cancer survival rates, techniques to accurately identify lung cancer, among the deadliest of all cancers, in its early stages has remained elusive.   Hemant K. Roy, from the University of Chicago (Illinois, USA), and colleagues have developed a method to detect lung cancer that involves shining diffuse light on cells swabbed from patients' cheeks. The novel technique, called partial wave spectroscopic (PWS) microscopy, was able to differentiate individuals with lung cancer from those without, even if the non-cancerous patients had been lifetime smokers or suffered from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).  The team submits that: “Our results offer proof of concept that buccal PWS may potentially herald a minimally intrusive prescreening test that could be integral to the success of lung cancer population screening programs.”