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A blood test for lung cancer is being released commercially across the United States this week.

The original article can be found at: http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/content/2010/s2916107.htm

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what we said (Hover the mouse cursor over underlined words for more info)

This article contains some critical analysis of the claimed early detection test for cancer. There is strong independent comment and this is helpful in dampening unwarranted enthusiasm for an as yet unproven test. However, the journalists fail to cover the conflict of interest of the principal researcher. He has formed a company and presumably stands to gain financially from the sales of this as yet unproven test when it is commercialised soon in the USA. The article and discussants do not discuss the real consequences of false positive and false negative results, which may lead to unnecessary toxic treatment or false reassurance respectively. The interviewer should have asked specifically about this. The costs of the test are not mentioned (allegedly 300 GBP) and the impact on the healthcare system if asked to subsidise a large number of tests is not addressed.

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