Israeli blood test could make lung-cancer detection faster, more accessible

Israeli scientists have developed a blood test that can detect lung cancer without DNA sequencing, potentially offering a faster and less expensive tool to complement existing imaging methods, Tel Aviv University announced on Monday.

“Our goal is to make blood tests for cancer diagnosis more accessible, simpler and less expensive without compromising accuracy,” said Professor Yuval Ebenstein of the university’s School of Chemistry. “We have developed a new approach that does not require genetic sequencing but instead identifies the tumor’s chemical ‘fingerprint’ with light, using a technology that can be implemented in standard clinical laboratories.”

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Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. Diagnosis currently relies heavily on CT scans, which can identify suspicious areas but also produce many findings that ultimately prove benign. Such findings can lead to unnecessary biopsies and surgeries.

Liquid biopsies offer another approach, but many rely on DNA sequencing, which can be costly and require sophisticated computational infrastructure.

The technology identifies a chemical “fingerprint” associated with cancer cells by analyzing cell-free DNA, small fragments of DNA released by cells into the bloodstream. Cell-free DNA can include fragments released by tumor cells, allowing researchers to detect molecular changes associated with cancer in a patient’s bloodstream.

The study—led by Ebenstein, together with researchers from Tel Aviv University’s Department of Biomedical Engineering and Zimin Institute, JaxBio Technologies, Bnai Zion Medical Center and Sheba Medical Center—was published in the peer-reviewed Nature Precision Oncology.

Reading cancer’s fingerprint

In a study involving 103 participants, the test distinguished lung cancer patients from healthy individuals with 93.1% sensitivity and 90.3% specificity among patients with Stage 2-4 disease.

The technology is designed to bypass sequencing. Researchers first extract cell-free DNA from a blood sample and label it with a light-emitting marker. The DNA is then attached to a specially developed DNA chip and scanned with an optical scanner. The resulting light patterns are analyzed to identify the biological fingerprint associated with lung cancer.

The researchers initially analyzed samples from 51 lung cancer patients and 52 healthy control subjects. After a model-training phase, they identified a signature involving 170 genomic regions and tested it on a separate validation group using blinded analysis.

The test also showed potential for distinguishing between two major forms of lung cancer—adenocarcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma—based on differences in their DNA signatures.

Researchers additionally investigated whether the technology could be used to monitor patients’ responses to treatment. Among the patients examined, changes in the DNA’s chemical fingerprint corresponded with imaging results. Patients who responded to treatment showed a shift toward the chemical profile of healthy individuals, while patients who did not respond showed no significant change.

The researchers stressed that the treatment-monitoring findings are preliminary and require further studies before the approach can be validated for clinical use.

The technology shows potential to be used alongside CT imaging to help assess suspicious findings, monitor patients’ responses to treatment and perhaps contribute to earlier lung cancer detection. Its relatively low cost and lack of a requirement for DNA sequencing could also make it more accessible than some existing liquid-biopsy approaches.

The test currently takes two to three days and costs approximately $60 per sample.

“This is a significant step toward developing a tool that can complement imaging tests and help physicians diagnose lung cancer and monitor treatment effectiveness,” Ebenstein said.

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