Biologics for novel driver altered non-small cell lung cancer: potential and pitfalls

Abstract

Precision medicine has revolutionized clinical paradigm of lung cancer (LC) patients optimizing therapeutical options on the basis of molecular fingerprinting of tumor cells. The advent of the genomic era contributed to the widespread diffusion of sequencing technologies laying the basis for the approval of an increasing number of clinically relevant predictive biomarkers in clinical settings. In the rapidly evolving scenario of predictive biomarkers, mandatory testing genes demonstrated a statistically significant clinical benefit in LC patients elected to molecular tests, but emerging biomarkers are under investigation to raise the bar in the clinical management of LC patients. To date, promising IHC-based predictive biomarkers emerged as potentially integrative tools in the panel of clinically approved biomarkers. On this basis, genomic, transcriptomic and proteomic data are gaining ground toward “3D” biology” supporting the need of a multidimensional analysis of tumor cells to clinically stratify LC patients. Here we sought to overview the most promising biomarkers investigated in clinical trials to be integrated into diagnostic panel of predictive biomarkers tools for NSCLC patients.