Biomarkers for Lung Cancer

Over the last decade, intense interest has been focused on discovery of biomarkers and their clinical uses. Lung cancer biomarker discovery has particular eminence in this field due to its anticipated critical role in risk stratification, early detection, treatm ent selection, prognostication, and m onitoring for recurrence of cancer. Significant progress has been m ade in our understanding of the steps involved in lung carcinogenesis and in development of novel technologies for biomarker discovery. The most active areas of research have been in promoter hypermethylation , proteomics, and genomics. Many investigators have adopted panels of serum biomarkers in an attempt to increase sensitivity. M arkers for identification of lung cancer patients who may benefit from targeted therapy have been developed more rapidly. Development of targeted lung cancer therapy has engendered interest in m arkers for identification of optim al candidates for these therapies. Despite extensive study to date, few have turned out to be useful in the clinic. Even those used in the clinic do not show enough sensitivity, specificity, and reproducibility for general use. All biomar kers identified so far m ust be validated in larger clinical cohorts.