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Yale professor Abhijit Patel receives 2024 Lung Cancer Early Detection Award
Patel currently serves as the Associate Professor of Therapeutic Radiology at Yale School of Medicine.
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Abhijit Patel. / Image - Yale school of medicine
Indian-American physician, Abhijit Patel, has received the 2024 Lung Cancer Early Detection Award, funded by LUNGevity Foundation and Rising Tide Foundation for Clinical Cancer Research.
This award aims to advance lung cancer early detection technologies to reduce lung cancer-related mortality in the United States.Patel, alongside collaborator Steven Skates of Massachusetts General Hospital, were recognised for developing a technique that identifies tiny DNA fragments from cancer cells present in the bloodstream.
With this new grant, their researchers will focus on refining the technology to link the presence of these fragments with early-stage lung cancer in patients. Additionally, they aim to create an algorithm capable of tracking blood changes over time, laying the groundwork for a routine blood test that could detect lung cancer at its earliest, most treatable stages, a release stated.
“This approach has additional advantages that can be a game-changer for the field of lung cancer,” said Upal Basu Roy, executive director of LUNGevity Research. “If this blood test is used with the current screening tests, it can detect some types of lung cancer, such as squamous cell, that are often missed by screening.” Squamous cell lung cancer, typically detected at advanced stages, has high mortality rates and limited treatment options. Early diagnosis could significantly improve patient outcomes.
Early detection in lung cancer is crucial; if diagnosed at an early stage, the five-year survival rate is approximately 64 percent, compared to just 27 percent overall. However, only 22 percent of lung cancers are detected early.
“There is a clear and pressing need to improve early detection of lung cancer,” said Alexandre Alencar, head of cancer research programs at Rising Tide Foundation for Clinical Cancer Research. “And here, we have dedicated researchers with a possible solution in hand. It will be exciting to see where this work takes us.”
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