It’s very disturbing to learn that new research has revealed that some lung cancers are undetected by X-ray, possibly due to human error, as early diagnosis is crucial for successful treatment which could saves.

The European Respiratory Society’s Annual Congress in Vienna was told that these tests are not not always effective as some cancers are later diagnosed, even though patients have received a negative chest radiograph within the previous 12 months. The reason for this could be due to human error with the cancer being missed on the review of the radiograph, due to the cancer being undetectable by this form of screening technique, or because the cancer developed so rapidly in the time between the two screening tests.

Abcodia, a biomarker development company, has just launched a campaign and is seeking partners involved in biomarker development for the early diagnosis and screening of lung cancer which could help save countless lives through its access to serum samples.

Lung cancer is the most common cancer worldwide, accounting for 1.3 million deaths annually. In the US alone, it is estimated that around 225,000 people will develop the disease in 2012 and only 16% of these will survive for 5 years. There are currently no biomarkers approved for the screening of lung cancer.

Abcodia has completed its fourth analysis of clinical data associated with a subset of serum samples derived from UKCTOCS (the UK Collaborative Trial of Ovarian Cancer Screening). The analysis was relevant to lung cancer and these samples are now being made available to both commercial and academic partners for the discovery or validation of screening biomarkers for lung cancer.

The company is in a unique position of having access to over 1,800 pre-diagnosis serum samples, the majority being longitudinal samples taken over several years from individuals who have developed lung cancer. These samples are essential for the discovery and validation of screening biomarkers and longitudinal algorithms for lung cancer screening.

By working with Abcodia, partners can benefit from the experience of the team in experimental design for cancer screening, cohort selection, analysis of cancer screening biomarker data and the possibility of broader collaboration with Abcodia’s other partners. Abcodia is also offering serum samples to improve cancer screening of breast, pancreatic and colorectal cancers.

Abcodia has also just launched a new LinkedIn Cancer Screening group to share knowledge about approaches in research, regulatory and adoption issues for cancer screening and welcomes new members.