In a study conducted with the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and published in Nature Medicine, found that more than half of patients with lung and colon cancer might benefit from the test.
She says she has had multiple health problems over the years, including lung disease and a kidney transplant, but was surprised when an A1C test diagnosed Type 2 diabetes.
On the other hand, some on Wall Street worry that availability of a gene test to predict response might limit the market for Iressa and Tarceva to only a small minority of lung cancer patients whose tumors have the gene mutations.
However, the test provided ominous news for a group of former Chernobyl clean-up workers who, although they had lung disorders, had not yet fallen prey to cancer.