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In a finding that could lead to a simple blood test to screen for lung cancer, U.S. researchers have identified immune system markers that indicate early-stage lung tumors in people at high risk for lung cancer.

The researchers examined gene expression profiles in blood samples from 137 people with non-small cell lung cancer and a control group of 91 people with non-malignant lung diseases, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, emphysema or benign lung nodules.

They identified a 29-gene “signature” that was 86 percent accurate in identifying those with lung cancer, who had certain genetic changes in immune cells that the others did not.

Blood samples were taken from 18 of those with lung cancer before surgery to remove their tumors and two to five months after surgery. After surgery, 13 of them showed a decrease or disappearance of the tumor gene signature.

The study was published online Dec. 1 in Cancer Research.

The researchers said it might be possible to use the findings to develop a simple blood test to screen for lung cancer.

“People routinely get blood taken at their doctors’ offices for cholesterol levels, diabetes and other standard tests, so why not utilize this method to screen for other conditions such as the risk of developing lung cancer?” Louise C. Showe, a professor in the molecular and cellular oncology and immunology programs and director of the genomics facility at the Wistar Institute in Philadelphia, said in a news release from the institute.

“Such a test could be especially useful for remote areas where, typically, technologies that are used in urban centers are not available,” she said. “In addition, this test could be useful in a clinical setting to help to decide whether a small tumor detected on an X-ray is likely to be malignant.”

A growing number of children in the United States are being born with Down syndrome, federal researchers say.

The overriding reason, experts add, is that more older women are having babies.

Data from 10 regional registries of birth defects show that the incidence of Down syndrome among U.S. children increased by 31 percent between 1979 and 2003, from 9.0 to 11.8 per 100,000 live births.

The survey of U.S. children with Down syndrome provides a benchmark for determining whether adequate health services for them are being provided, the researchers say.

“In the past we have focused on the prevalence at birth,” said Dr. Adolfo Correa, a supervisory medical officer with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and lead author of the report, published online Nov. 30 in Pediatrics. “The survival of children with Down syndrome has improved over the years, so we were interested in knowing the prevalence among children.”

The growing incidence, however, could paint a false picture, said Dr. Siobhan Dolan, an associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology and women’s health at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Montefiore Medical Center in New York City and a consultant to the March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation.

The increase simply reflects the fact that more American women are having babies later in life, and “there is a strong epidemiological association between Down syndrome and maternal age,” Dolan said.

Down syndrome occurs when a child has an extra chromosome, number 21 of the 23 that determine genetic characteristics. Though most people think of the syndrome as a cause of mental retardation, some children with Down do not need special schools, Dolan said. But the extra chromosome is associated with a number of major physical problems, including life-threatening heart abnormalities.

The numbers in the new study “allow us to plan for Down syndrome, to see what is working for the children, including cardiac surgery to extend the life span,” she said.

Correo said the findings will help determine “whether the availability of specialty services will be enough to meet the needs of the Down syndrome population.”

The increased number of people with Down syndrome reflects “an accomplishment in our health system that should be noted,” Dolan said. “The care for Down syndrome individuals is probably improving, so that life expectancy is improving.”

Studies of the relationship between maternal age and the incidence of Down syndrome are continuing, she said. “That is the subject of very active research — what causes chromosomes to divide abnormally at certain ages. The genetics is really interesting.”

Tests to detect chromosomal abnormalities during pregnancy now are widely available, Dolan said. Such tests “can allow us to plan for health care, to plan for delivery, having a cardiology team there to care for the child,” she said.

A number of organizations provide advice and services for families with children who have Down syndrome, she said. “Getting educated from other families and support groups is an important asset,” she said.

Dolan also noted, however, that the data in the federal study now are now nine years old. “It is not 2009 data, and this is a continually changing field,” she said. “It is going to be interesting to see what happened between 2003 and 2009.”

Want to boost the odds that you’ll thrive after surgery and avoid complications?

The American Society of Anesthesiologists has a recommendation: Drop that butt.

Quitting smoking will make it more likely that you’ll recover from an operation without anything going seriously wrong, the society says.

“Anesthesiologists are the heart and lung specialists in the operating room, making sure our patients’ vital functions are working properly,” said Dr. David O. Warner, who chairs the group’s smoking cessation task force. “Every year, we care for up to 10 million smokers in surgery. We see the immense toll that smoking takes on a person’s body, but we also witness the tremendous benefits patients who stop smoking before surgery experience in their healing process.”

The association suggests that surgery provides an ideal opportunity for someone to quit smoking altogether because surgery patients are told to stop for as long as possible before and after their operation.

Surgery-related reasons to quit, the group says, include:
You’ll heal better after surgery. One study found that half of the people who continued smoking after surgery developed complications; the number fell to 20 percent among those who quit.
Hospitals are smoke-free, and it will be tough to leave to light up.
Within hours after you quit, your body will begin to heal. Within less than a day, the association says, blood flow throughout the body will get better, boosting the chances of avoiding complications from surgery.