Blood test technique could lead to kidney cancer detection up to 5 years earlier

A marker in the blood could help predict the risk that a person has of developing kidney cancer, according to a study released on Monday by Cancer Research UK.

The research team found that measuring levels of a protein molecule in the blood, called KIM-1, could indicate whether a person was more likely to develop kidney cancer in the following five years.

The greater the concentration of KIM-1, the higher their risk of developing kidney cancer, according to the study, which has been published in the journal Clinical Cancer Research.

Meanwhile, in people with kidney cancer, KIM-1 levels were also found to be linked with poor survival, as those with the highest levels in their blood were less likely to survive the illness, the researchers said.

"The next steps are to look more closely at whether KIM-1 levels can help detect tumors that have a good prognosis, so those at an early stage, and to find out if it could be used as a tool to track whether a patient's treatment is working," said David Muller, one of the authors of the study.

Kidney cancer is the seventh most common cancer in the UK and cases are on the rise. When diagnosed at its earliest stage, more than eight in 10 people will survive the disease for five years or more, according to the Cancer Research UK.