THURSDAY March 20, 2008 (Foodconsumer.org) -- Diagnosis of lung cancer occurs often in its later stage and the prognosis is poor.   A new study reported in the medical journal Thorax suggests that detection of antibodies that target antigens on lung cancer may help diagnose the disease earlier.

Dr. Caroline J. Chapman at The University of Nottingham in the UK, and colleagues within the university and in Germany tested blood samples from 50 health individuals and 104 patients with lung cancer for their levels of antibodies to seven antigens associated with lung cancer.

They found high levels of antibodies to at least one antigen in 76 percent of the lung cancer patients. Among patients whose cancer was localized and had not spread to the lymph nodes, 89 percent had antibodies.

Not all seven antigens were equally promising.   The researchers said three of the antigens, which are present also in some other types of cancer, did not add much to the panel assay.   They said using lung-cancer specific antigens may improve the effectiveness of diagnosing lung cancer.