Researchers Find Proteins and a Drug That Could Prevent Lung Cancer

On June 4, 2026, a team of more than 80 researchers spread across multiple continents published findings about a certain group of proteins in the blood that could predict lung cancer. The team, including Charles Swanton of the Francis Crick Institute and senior author of this article, also found an existing drug canakinumab that may reduce the percentage of this group of proteins in blood and thereby reduce the risk for lung cancer.

Scientists proved that smoking and second-hand smoke activate a specific inflammatory pathway by releasing “an inflammatory signal called interleukin-1 beta” which increases the concentration of these proteins, according to the researchers’ paper. By measuring the percentage of these proteins in blood, scientists hope to diagnose lung cancer more easily.

This new method of identifying lung cancer could potentially help more people. Dr. Mazzone, a specialist in pulmonary medicine at Cleveland Clinic, said that “if doctors could use a blood test to identify the people most likely to benefit, that might get more people in the door.” Patients are more willing to get a quick blood test than to get scans, and blood tests are also more efficient.

Preventing cancer has long been a hope and a goal for medical researchers, and Dr. Douglas Arenberg, an uninvolved professor of medicine from the University of Michigan, said that “preventing lung cancer has been a missing holy grail for a very, very long time.” Not only have many people died because of lung cancer, but very few people diagnosed survive longer than five years, so early diagnosis and preventive medicine is key.

Although the drug was originally meant to reduce the likelihood of heart attacks, canakinumab reduces inflammation, which may also help with lung cancer prevention. An experiment whose results were published in the New England Journal of Medicine showed that this drug slightly reduced heart attacks but clearly decreased the incidence of lung cancer, because of the reduction of inflammation in that pathway.

This drug still needs to be tested to see if it actually prevents lung cancer and to determine if the side effects are safe; however, the researchers and other experts have high hopes for this drug.

The researchers’ findings of the group of proteins, and the drug is a step forward in the process of preventing lung cancer. Hopefully, this drug can help prevent lung cancer and save more lives.

Link to article: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/04/well/lung-cancer-prevention.html