Lab21 has introduced a test that identifies the smokers and ex-smokers at greatest risk of developing lung cancer.
Respiragene is a clinically validated test developed in New Zealand that combines DNA analysis with other known risk factors to provide a simple score showing individual lung-cancer risk.
All smokers are at higher risk of lung cancer than non-smokers and research now suggests that smokers often suffer from optimistic bias: the belief that bad outcomes happen to other people, not them.
But studies show that understanding individual risk can help overcome this bias.
Lung cancer is the most lethal of the common cancers: 50 per cent of those with lung cancer are dead within one year of diagnosis and 80 per cent die within two years.
But lung-cancer risk can be lowered by quitting smoking and research shows survival rates for lung cancer improve dramatically if it is detected early.
The test uses DNA collected from a cheek swab to analyse specific genetic markers that are involved in the risk of developing lung cancer.
It combines this information with other known risk factors for the disease (age, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and family history of lung cancer) to produce a test score.
Those with 'high risk' scores are about four-times more likely than an average smoker to get lung cancer; those in the 'very high risk' category are about 10-times more likely to get lung cancer than the average smoker.
Current statistics show that 30 per cent of smokers fall into the 'high risk' and 20 per cent in the 'very high risk' groups.
Dr Berwyn Clarke, chief scientific and development officer at Lab21, said: 'There is scientific evidence showing that personal health risk information does influence a smoker's decision to quit smoking.
'We know earlier detection greatly improves patient survival rates when the cancer is discovered at less advanced stages.
'Obviously, knowing who's at greatest risk could have a significant impact on the incidence and clinical management of lung cancer in the UK.' The test was developed by Lab 21's partner Synergenz Bioscience, based on research by its clinical director Dr Robert Young.
The test can be ordered by phone or from Lab 21's website.
Before taking the test, smokers or ex-smokers must talk to their doctor or with a genetic counsellor recommended by Lab21.
