Looking for Aggressive Lung Cancer in Non-smokers? There’s a Test for That.

According to the EurekAlert! press release, Quick, easy test identifies aggressive type of lung cancer in never-smokers, approximately 8-12% of non-smoking patients that are experiencing lung cancer have cells that are expressing the ALK  or anaplastic lymphoma kinase oncogene.  Patients that have lung cancer with a higher expression of ALK, have twice the risk of disease progression and reoccurance.

Scientists have developed a quick and easy test using florescence in situ-hybridization (FISH), a technique that uses florescent probes to bind specific DNA sequences in individual cells.  By combining FISH with immunohistochemistry (IHC), a technique that utilizes antibodies to measure protein levels in tissue, inexpensive, cheap and rapid testing for ALK.  

Experiments have already shown great promise for the combination of FISH and IHC, in the detection of aggressive lung cancer, however, more testing is necessary before these measuring techniques will be fully utilized as an acceptable diagnostic technique.