Nasal Swabs Could Help Diagnose Lung Cancer

Lung cancer is still the main cancer killer, once discovered, it was too late.  New research suggests that a simple nasal swab could accurately determine whether a patient has lung cancer.

Many patients who have been diagnosed as benign have undergone invasive medical procedures, such as surgical lung biopsy, CT. But the new study found a genomic tool that would allow doctors to diagnosis whether patients had a malignant lesion by simply using a nasal swab.

Smokers of nasal airway epithelial cells have been extended to the nose, and nasal swabs may have biomarkers of lung cancer. We found that nasal epithelial gene expression can reveal cancer status independently of standard clinical risk factors, suggesting that nasal epithelial gene expression may contribute to lung cancer testing, and that nasal samples can be collected by non-invasive, easy-to-use nasal swabs.

Nasal Swabs Could Help Diagnose Lung Cancer

Nasopharyngeal Flocked Swabs