Nose swab test found to indicate lung damage in smokers

Research published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute has showed that looking at certain genes within nose cells via a nose swab could indicate the damage caused to cells in the lung by smoking.

Currently CT scans are used in the US to identify suspect lumps in the lungs, but are not able to determine which of these lumps are likely to be cancerous, and those that are non-cancerous which should just be monitored.

Researchers at Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) highlighted that using the nose swabs could help doctors make a decision on which lumps to investigate further. 

The tests were based on the theory that long-term tobacco smoking similarly alters genes in the nose as well as the lung, suggesting sampling cells from this area could offer the same information without the need for invasive lung sampling.  

The BUSM team examined more than 550 nasal samples from current or former long-term tobacco smokers with suspected lung cancer, identified by CT scans that showed suspicious nodules. The researchers found that they could detect lung cancer-associated genetic changes in both nose and lung cell samples, and that these could help predict the risk that the patient had lung cancer. 

Professor Samuel Janes, a Cancer Research UK expert on lung cancer, commented: “This interesting study is based on the idea that cigarette smoke damages the whole airway, including the mouth and nose. 

“It looked at whether cells in the nose could help determine lung cancer risk in patients who have been given a CT scan. 

“Around one in five lung CT scans find a nodule that could be cancer, but only around one in 25 of these nodules turn out to be a cancer. The researchers hope their approach could play a part in finding those cancerous nodules. 

“We need new ways to understand which of the nodules are cancer, and reduce the number of potentially harmful tests such as biopsies or further imaging, which includes giving radiation.”