New tool to battle lung cancer

A SIMPLE algorithm that can predict the likelihood of lung cancer in smokers and exsmokers could revolutionise screening and help save lives, say Australian researchers.

A study by Cancer Council NSW evaluated the performance of the US-developed prediction tool – called PLCOm2012 – among 100,000 smokers and ex-smokers who were part of the Sax Institute’s 45 and Up study. “We showed that it was able to identify around 70 per cent of lung cancers that occurred among those people within six years,” lead researcher Dr Marianne Weber said.

The cancer epidemiologist said it was better at predicting people who would go on to develop lung cancer than the current guidelines.

An estimated 12,434 new cases of lung cancer will be diagnosed in Australia in 2017. Of those, more than 9000 will die.