ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, August 21, 1996 TAG: 9608210039
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-9 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: WASHINGTON
SOURCE: Associated Press
The Food and Drug Administration approved a noninvasive test Tuesday to help determine which patients have an advanced form of lung cancer that does not respond to therapy.
To be sold under the brand name Verluma, the test is an antibody that seeks out a protein found on most small cell lung cancers and attaches itself to those cells.
The antibody is radiolabeled, so that when doctors view the patient with special cameras, the cancer cells appear as ``hot spots.''
Lung cancer is the nation's most common malignancy, striking 177,000 Americans a year.
LENGTH: Short : 25 linesby CNB