Lung cancer is the leading cause of death from cancer in the world and now the Boston University School of Medicine has developed a genetic test that could reveal whether a smoker has lung cancer months or years earlier than is currently possible.
The patterns of what scientists call "gene expression" in the cells taken from the airways of smokers could aid the early detection of lung cancer, according to the study reported by the media Sunday.
The research, published Friday in the journal Natural Medicine, identifies a pattern among 80 genes that can distinguish between smokers with and without lung cancer.
Depending on where the cancer is, it is often possible to remove stage one lung cancer with surgery.
"Our study has identified an airway gene-expression biomarker that will impact the diagnostic evaluation of smokers with suspect lung cancer," said Dr Avrum Spira, who led the study alongside colleague Dr Jerome Brody.
"Our data also suggests that this method could improve the diagnostic sensitivity of the overall bronchoscopy procedure from 53 to 90 per cent," he added.
Bronchoscopy involves inserting a tube through the mouth into the large airways.
The researchers found the method to be approximately 90 percent sensitive for identifying stage one lung cancer, an earlier and more effectively treatable stage of the disease.
More than 37,100 people were diagnosed with lung cancer in the UK during 2003.
Of those diagnosed when the disease is at an advanced stage, only about 20 percent are still alive one year later -- and just 6 percent will be alive after five years.
By comparison, of the people with stage one lung cancer who undergo surgery, between 60 and 80 percent will still be alive five years later.

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