Simple blood test could lead to personalized lung cancer treatment
· Medical Xpressedited by Sadie Harley, reviewed by Andrew Zinin
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A single blood test could help doctors predict how lung cancer patients will respond to treatment before therapy begins, researchers have found. University of Queensland-led research focused on non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), the most common form of the disease, and showed how analyzing proteins in a blood sample could support earlier and better-informed treatment decisions.
The study is published in npj Precision Oncology.
Associate Professor Arutha Kulasinghe from UQ's Frazer Institute said the approach could change how treatment decisions are made.
"This is a step towards truly personalized lung cancer care," Dr. Kulasinghe said.
"At the moment, clinicians often have to make treatment decisions without a clear picture of how a patient will respond.
"What we're showing is that information already exists in the blood."
The research analyzed blood samples from NSCLC patients at Princess Alexandra Hospital before and after surgery and immunotherapy to track how protein levels changed over time.
Using advanced technology, the team measured thousands of proteins and applied statistical modeling to identify signals linked to treatment response and disease progression.
Lung cancer kills more people than any other cancer, and immunotherapy can cost patients up to half a million dollars a year.
The findings were validated using an independent testing platform.
Dr. Aaron Kilgallon, from the Queensland Spatial Biology Center, a collaboration between UQ and Wesley Research Institute, said the clinical implications were significant.
"Blood-based monitoring would be far less invasive than repeat biopsies and could give us earlier warning of recurrence," he said.
"That's a meaningful shift for patients."
While further research is needed before clinical use, the team is exploring if the method can be applied to other cancers.
"We want to use a patient's own biology to guide treatment decisions at diagnosis," Dr. Kulasinghe said.
Publication details
Vahid Yaghoubi Naei et al, Dissecting non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with blood proteomics—from surgical to immunotherapeutic responses, npj Precision Oncology (2026). DOI: 10.1038/s41698-026-01469-z
Journal information: npj Precision Oncology
Key medical concepts
Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell LungBlood SampleImmunotherapySurgical Procedures, Operative
Clinical categories
OncologyLaboratory medicine Provided by University of Queensland Who's behind this story?
Sadie Harley
BSc Life Sciences & Ecology. Microbiology lab background with pharmaceutical news experience in oil, gas, and renewable industries. Full profile →
Andrew Zinin
Master's in physics with research experience. Long-time science news enthusiast. Plays key role in Science X's editorial success. Full profile →
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