Can lung cancer be prevented using a drug?

On June 4 2026, a paper was published in the journal Cell, in which researchers from The Francis Crick Institute, University College London and elsewhere, identified a set of blood proteins that appeared to predict lung cancer five years before it became clinically apparent. In addition, the researchers proposed that a human monoclonal antibody called Canakinumab, which targets interleukin-1 beta (a component of the body’s immune response), might reduce the risk of lung cancer among individuals with this protein signature, based on a retrospective analysis of an earlier clinical trial.The dramatic appeal of these claims attracted significant media attention, leading many people to believe that they could simply do a blood test to predict lung cancer and then take a drug to prevent it from…

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