Scientists discover blood test that could predict kidney cancer 5 years earlier

Research carried out by scientists at Cancer Research UK and the NIH have found that measuring levels of the KIM-1 protein in the blood could predict the risk of a person developing kidney cancer.
Findings suggest that the higher the concentration of KIM-1, the greater the risk of developing the disease.
“This discovery is a huge step forward” Said Dr David Muller, Cancer Research UK co-first author. “KIM-1 is the only blood biomarker that has shown any signs of being able to distinguish between people who are at a high and low risk of kidney cancer. But there is a lot more work to do.
The next steps will be to find out if KIM-1 levels will be able to detect tumours, and to see if it can be used as a tracking tool to check if a patient’s treatment is working or not.”
According to Cancer Research UK data, when diagnosed at its earliest stage, the five year survival rate is more than 80%, whereas a late stage diagnosis gives a 10% survival rate, highlighting there is a need for improvement.
“With kidney cancer treatments likely to more successful at early stage diagnosis, there is a pressing need for a shift” said Professor Charles Swanton, Cancer Research UK’s chief clinician. “This promising research is great progress toward that goal.”