Blood test may detect mesothelioma cancer

Blood test could detect mesothelioma cancer

“The blood test, along with a lung fluid test, looks for a protein in plasma called fibulin-3 that indicates whether a person has mesothelioma cancer, which is often triggered by asbestos exposure, or was simply exposed to asbestos,” writes Serena Gordon of USNews.com.

Patients with mesothelioma have fibulin-3 four-five times higher than the normal, said study author Dr. Harvey Pass, a professor of thoracic oncology at NYU Langone Medical Center in New York City. This study was recently published at the New England Journal of Medicine.