Doctors currently assess early-stage lung cancer by the size and location of the cancer. If they could more accurately predict the development of the cancer, they would be able to determine the best treatment for individuals with this form of cancer.

The study, published in The Lancet medical journal, analysed tissue samples from over 1,400 people with early stage lung cancer.

The findings of the study suggest that by measuring the activity of fourteen identified genes in the cancerous tissue, and comparing them with tissue from a normal lung, scientists can more accurately predict how the cancer will develop.  

Dr David Jablons, lead author of the study from the University of California, San Francisco, said: “This has the potential to help hundreds of thousands of people every year survive longer.”

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