Lung cancer is the main cause of cancer deaths all over the world. The surgery is the standard treatment for the early stage of Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC). However, from 30% to 80% of these patients die within 5 years after diagnosis. The circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) is carrier of the pathological characteristics of the original tumor, like genetic mutations or epigenetic alterations. CfDNA analysis also revolutionized the clinical approach to patients affected with advanced lung cancer underwent to targeted therapies. However, the low concentration of ctDNA in blood of patients with NSCLC in early stageprevented, in the past, its use for early diagnosis of the disease. With the development of always more specific and sensitive techniques for the detection and the analysis of cfDNA, soon will become a usual instrument even in the screening and the dynamic evaluation of the patient. Therefore, ctDNA analysis can turn into a technology used for NSCLC diagnostic routine for monitoring the tumor load and for identifying the residual disease hidden in early stage.

Read the original article