LUNG CANCER
Survival of lung cancer treated with resection
Context
Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths in the world. The prognosis of non–small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) largely depends on tumor stage; indeed, the overall low survival rate (about 15% at 5 years) is primarily due to the high frequency of late diagnosis, when the tumor has become unresectable. Early-stage NSCLC patients (stage I–II) have a significantly better prognosis (30%–60% survival at 5 years). One important issue in stage I NSCLC is that current diagnostic tools do not allow precise prognostic evaluation. In turn, this limits the power of clinical trials aimed at ameliorating prognosis through multimodality therapy. A case in point is represented by adjuvant chemotherapy, on which conflicting results in stage IB have been reported. Consequently, there is presently no indication for adjuvant treatment in stage I NSCLC. Evidently enough, the availability of accurate prognostic markers might change this picture by allowing the selection, for clinical trials, of only those patients with a high risk of relapse. Thus, there is need for reliable prognostic indicators, both for diagnostic and prognostic purposes and for the design of clinical trials.
Purpose of the study
Improve the prognosis of patients detected with early-stage lung cancer
Results to date
Discovery of a new gene expression signature that robustly predicts the outcome of patients diagnosed with early-stage lung cancer
Presentation of a poster in the 2014 Esmo Congress : Best Poster Award
Request for grant of an European patent