Plate Nº 44 · recorded October 10, 2026
Health & Medicine ResearchReported finding
31 Blood Markers May Flag Lung Cancer Risk a Decade Early
University of Hawaiʻi researchers identified 31 small RNAs in blood that signaled lung cancer risk five to 10 years before diagnosis, with a model testing at 95% accuracy.
By Elena Vasquez3 min read559 words
In brief
- Researchers identified 31 small noncoding RNA markers in blood linked to future lung cancer risk.
- A computer model using the markers achieved 95% overall accuracy in testing.
- The RNA risk signal was detectable 5 to 10 years before clinical diagnosis.
- The association held after accounting for age, sex, ethnicity and smoking history.
- The study, published in Advanced Science (2026), was led by University of Hawaiʻi Mānoa researchers.
A blood test built on 31 genetic markers spotted lung cancer risk up to 10 years before diagnosis, with 95% overall accuracy in testing, according to University of Hawaiʻi researchers.
The markers are small noncoding RNAs — tiny strips of genetic material that don't code for proteins but circulate in the blood and can carry biological signals. Researchers found them in stored blood samples drawn years before participants ever learned they had cancer.
The study, published in Advanced Science, was led by Youping Deng, Ph.D. candidate Zhuokun Feng and Masaki Nasu from the Department of Quantitative Health Sciences at the UH Mānoa John A. Burns School of Medicine. Deng also co-directs genomics research at the UH Cancer Center. UH Cancer Center researcher Loïc Le Marchand, lead investigator for the Multiethnic Cohort (MEC) Study, served as co-author.
What did the researchers actually find?
The team analyzed blood samples collected before participants were diagnosed with lung cancer and identified 31 specific RNA molecules associated with future risk of the disease.
A computer model trained on these markers reached 95% overall accuracy. Crucially, the RNA-based risk score held up even after the researchers accounted for age, sex, ethnicity and smoking history — the usual suspects in lung cancer risk.
The association was still detectable five to 10 years before clinical diagnosis, the point at which cancer becomes visible to doctors through symptoms or standard screening.
"A central question in this study was whether a molecular signal of future lung cancer could already be present in blood many years before diagnosis," Feng said.
Why does early detection matter so much?
Lung cancer often stays clinically silent for years. By the time it causes symptoms, the disease has frequently advanced to a stage where treatment options narrow.
A blood-based tool that flags high-risk people a decade ahead could, in principle, help doctors decide who needs closer monitoring — while the cancer remains clinically undetected. The findings point toward a future blood-based approach to long-term lung cancer risk assessment, the researchers write.
How confident should we be?
Plenty of caveats apply. The word "accuracy" here describes a computer model's performance in testing, not a validated clinical test. Turning a lab result into a dependable screening tool requires independent replication, larger studies and regulatory review — a process that typically takes years.
The study's own framing is cautious: the markers "could eventually help" identify people at higher risk. The research team is pursuing patent protection for the biomarker panel and its potential clinical application, which signals commercial interest but also that the work is still early-stage.
No screening test based on these markers exists today. Anyone worried about lung cancer risk should talk to a doctor about currently recommended options.
What happens next?
The paper — Zhuokun Feng et al., "A Panel of Circulating Exosomal sncRNAs Associated With Lung Cancer Risk up to 10 Years in Advance," Advanced Science (2026), DOI: 10.1002/advs.76729 — lays out the molecular groundwork. The Hawaiʻi team's next steps will likely include validating the 31-marker panel in separate groups of patients, a standard requirement before any clinical use.
For now, the result stands as a promising lead: a measurable biological change in ordinary blood, visible years before disease appears, that survived statistical adjustment for the strongest known lung cancer risk factors.
via Medical Xpress (Source)
More from Elena Vasquez
Nearby plates
- Age-Based Cancer Genetic Testing Misses 72% of Inherited Variants
- Urine RNA test detects bladder cancer with 95% accuracy in 683-sample study
- New RNA Testing Guidance Could Deliver Clearer Genetic Diagnoses
- Some Healthy Organs Carry Cancer-Level Mutation Counts, Study Finds
- Personalized Guidance Helps Families Act on Cancer Risk Genes