Non-Invasive Biomarkers for Early Lung Cancer Detection
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Volume
14
Publisher
Publisher URL
DOI
10.3390/cancers14235782
Journal
Cancers
Issue
ISSN
2072-6694
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Worldwide, lung cancer (LC) is the most common cause of cancer death, and any delay in
the detection of new and relapsed disease serves as a major factor for a significant proportion of LC
morbidity and mortality. Though invasive methods such as tissue biopsy are considered the gold
standard for diagnosis and disease monitoring, they have several limitations. Therefore, there is
an urgent need to identify and validate non-invasive biomarkers for the early diagnosis, prognosis,
and treatment of lung cancer for improved patient management. Despite recent progress in the
identification of non-invasive biomarkers, currently, there is a shortage of reliable and accessible
biomarkers demonstrating high sensitivity and specificity for LC detection. In this review, we aim
to cover the latest developments in the field, including the utility of biomarkers that are currently
used in LC screening and diagnosis. We comment on their limitations and summarise the findings
and developmental stages of potential molecular contenders such as microRNAs, circulating tumour
DNA, and methylation markers. Furthermore, we summarise research challenges in the development of biomarkers used for screening purposes and the potential clinical applications of newly
discovered biomarkers.