A new blood test called a liquid biopsy could help identify the disease, along with seven other common cancers, well before it spreads.
Leading researcher and oncologist, Professor Peter Gibbs, says it could dramatically change the way cancer is treated.
Trials of the test - which identifies early-stage tumours from proteins and mutations in the blood - have found that it successfully detected common cancers 70 per cent of the time.
The liquid biopsy was developed in collaboration between US researchers and scientists here at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute in Melbourne.
And they're confident the test could be on the market for patient use within the next few years.
Professor Gibbs, from the Institute, say he's excited by the potential of the test.
It's timely news with figures released in Victoria showing lung cancer is now the leading cause of cancer deaths in men AND women.
Quit Victoria director Dr Sarah White says it's a deadly hangover from an increased uptake in smoking forty years ago.
But there's a more positive development for another cancer, which Cancer Council's Todd Harper says has benefited from extensive research and improved treatment options.
