Blood Test Model Helps Prioritize Lung Cancer Screening
Researchers report a complete blood count-based risk model that identifies most lung cancers while flagging fewer individuals for imaging.
Updated on Nov. 2, 2026 in Asthma
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Researchers developed a risk model using only three complete blood count parameters to prioritize people aged 50 and older for lung cancer screening. In a retrospective study of 83,904 individuals, the model identified 59.33% of cancers while prioritizing 42.84% of individuals for imaging.
Why it matters
Low-dose computed tomography screening is constrained by cost, infrastructure demands, and unequal access across health systems worldwide. A blood-based prioritization tool that requires no imaging, questionnaire, or smoking history could help direct limited screening resources, though it has not yet been validated prospectively.
In an 83,904-person retrospective cohort, a ridge logistic regression model achieved an AUC of 0.62 (95% CI 0.58-0.66), with the high-risk group holding 22.46% of the population and capturing 37.32% of cancers. The study does not establish how the model performs in a prospective setting.
The details
Researchers trained the model on Lung-RADS 4 CT findings and tested it on biopsy-confirmed cases in an independent set. Feature selection retained red cell distribution width, neutrophil count, and mean corpuscular volume as predictors, and logistic regression with L2 regularization was compared with gradient boosting.
Timeline
Chest CT or lung biopsy was performed on study participants up to five years after blood collection.
The article was published in early-access form on 2026-11-02.
Big Picture
Low-dose computed tomography screening programs face constraints from cost, infrastructure demands, and unequal access, which limit how many eligible people can be scanned. A blood-based prioritization tool could help direct those limited resources toward higher-risk individuals, though it would need prospective validation against current eligibility criteria first.
For people aged 50 and older, screening decisions currently depend on imaging-based eligibility rules and access to low-dose CT. A blood-based prioritization tool, if validated, could eventually shape who is offered a scan, but it does not change current screening recommendations.
The takeaway
Prioritization tools that use routine blood parameters may help allocate limited lung cancer screening capacity, but they require prospective testing before informing clinical practice. Readers should continue to follow established screening eligibility guidance from their health system.
Further reading
Explore more on Asthma and related respiratory health coverage.
Source note: This article includes information reported by Nature.
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