Scientists have uncovered a biomarker for lung cancer that may enable to devise a simple blood test for disease.

Lung cancer is the most common cancer in men worldwide and the number one cancer killer in the United States. Finding the disease early is crucial to survival.

A research team in New Jersey has discovered a biomarker in the blood that appears to be capable of a more accurate screening than the current method of low-dose CT scans for detecting non-small cell lung cancer.

The pilot study on the protein, AKAP4, done in conjunction with Wistar Institute in Philadelphia, builds upon the success of Dr. Ganepola A. P. Ganepola, an oncological surgeon who had previously discovered a biomarker for pancreatic cancer.

The findings were published online in the journal Oncotarget.