Can dif­fer­ences in ge­nom­ic im­mune sys­tem sig­na­tures de­tect lung can­cer be­fore it takes hold?

There’s as­pirin for col­orec­tal can­cer and statins for car­dio­vas­cu­lar dis­ease, but for the lead­ing cause of can­cer deaths glob­al­ly — lung can­cer — there’s no tool in the doc­tor’s ar­se­nal to ar­rest or pre­vent the fa­tal dis­ease (apart from smok­ing ab­sti­nence). But a new study sug­gests ge­nom­ic im­mune sys­tem dis­par­i­ties may play a cru­cial role in the de­vel­op­ment of lung can­cer, set­ting the stage for fresh ther­a­peu­tics that could arm the im­mune sys­tem to bet­ter fight can­cer­ous cells from an­chor­ing in the lungs.

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