Simon Heeke, Assistant Professor at MD Anderson Cancer Center, shared a post on LinkedIn:
“Excited to share our new review in Nature Magazine Nature Reviews Clinical Oncology: “Innovative approaches for lung cancer screening and interception” (Zhang et al., 2026) that has been published this this week.
Lung cancer remains the leading cause of cancer mortality, in large part because many patients are diagnosed at advanced, often incurable stages.
Our paper synthesizes the latest evidence on current screening paradigms and outlines emerging strategies that could transform early detection and interception.
Key takeaways from the review:
Biomarkers beyond imaging: While low-dose CT (LDCT) screening has proven mortality benefit in defined high-risk populations, it has limitations, including low uptake and high false positives. Integrating novel biomarkers (e.g., radiomic signatures, molecular features detectable in blood or other biospecimens, and volatile organic compounds) can refine risk stratification and complement imaging-based algorithms. ctDNA cfDNA VOC Radiomics liquidBiopsy
Liquid biopsies and molecular risk prediction are promising tools to capture early neoplastic changes and improve selection of individuals most likely to benefit from surveillance.
Progress in precancer interception underscores opportunities to intevene before maligant transition, an approach that will depend on better molecular markers of high-risk precancerous lesions.
Implementing these innovations equitably requires confronting disparities in access, harmonizing biomarker validation frameworks, and integrating multi-omic data into actionable clinical workflows.
The future of lung cancer control lies in precision screening by coupling risk models and biomarkers with scalable, patient-centered delivery.”
Title: Innovative approaches for lung cancer screening and interception
Authors: Jianjun Zhang, Matthew D. Park, Tej Pandya, Elaine Shum, Jia Wu, Simon Heeke, Ramin Salehi-Rad, Thomas U. Marron, Zhubo Wei, Hui Li, Torsten G. Blum,
John V. Heymach, Steven M. Dubinett, Pan-Chyr Yang, Charles Swanton and Miriam Merad
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