Lung cancer awareness month

At Volition, we’re developing Nu.Q^® Cancer – a range of simple, cost-effective blood-based assays to help detect, guide treatment, and monitor cancer.

One of our areas of focus is lung cancer and we are currently working with teams at clinical centers of excellence worldwide, as they undertake studies to test our technology as an aid for cancer detection, disease progression, treatment response monitoring, and minimal residual disease monitoring.

November is lung cancer awareness month. Here are some facts and figures about the disease:

1. Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide with more than 1.8 million deaths each year.
2. Smoking is the leading cause of lung cancer, accounting for more than 85% of cases.
3. Other risk factors include exposure to second-hand smoke, air pollution, and workplace hazards like asbestos and certain chemicals.
4. The most common types of lung cancer are non-small cell carcinoma (NSCLC) and small cell carcinoma (SCLC). NSCLC is more common and grows slowly, while SCLC is less common but often grows quickly.
5. The most common symptoms of lung cancer include:
   • a cough that does not go away
   • chest pain
   • persistent breathlessness
   • coughing up blood
   • fatigue
   • unexplained weight loss
   • chest infections that keep coming back
6. Not smoking tobacco is the best way to prevent lung cancer.
7. Screening with low-dose CT scans has been shown to decrease the risk of dying from lung cancer in heavy smokers. However, there are risks of screening such as false positive and false negative results.

How is Volition helping? 

We are currently investigating the potential use of Nu.Q^® assays in a range of cancers and clinical settings.

Nu.Q^® Cancer can detect characteristic epigenetic changes in nucleosomes that occur from the earliest stages of cancer and has potential applications beyond cancer detection. Being able to use epigenetic information from the nucleosomes of tumor cells could help physicians predict treatment response for each patient, monitor treatment response and disease progression, and take action as soon as possible if changes need to be made.

Nu.Q^® Cancer could also play a pivotal role in Minimal Residual Disease Monitoring – to quantify and monitor the small number of cancer cells left in the body after cancer treatment, which have the potential to cause relapse.

Visit our Nu.Q^® Cancer page to find out more.

For more information about lung cancer:

• Lung Cancer Research Foundation
• American Lung Association
• Lung Cancer Europe
• Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation

References:

• Facts 1 – 6 = World Health Organization – WHO November 2024
• Fact 7 – National Cancer Institute – NIH November 2024