Molecular sputum analysis for the diagnosis of lung cancer |
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Authors: | A J Hubers C F M Prinsen G Sozzi B I Witte E Thunnissen |
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Institution: | 1.Department of Pathology, VU University Medical Center, De Boelelaan 1117, 1081 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands;2.Department of Pathology, Canisius-Wilhelmina Hospital, Weg door Jonkerbos 100, 6532 SZ Nijmegen, The Netherlands;3.Tumor Genomics Unit, Department of Experimental Oncology, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale Tumori, Via Venezian 1, 20133 Milan, Italy;4.Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, VU University Medical Center, De Boelelaan 1117, 1081 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands |
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Abstract: | Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer mortality rate worldwide, mainly because of the presence of metastatic disease at the time of diagnosis. Early detection of lung cancer improves prognosis, and towards this end, large screening trials in high-risk individuals have been conducted since the past century. Despite all efforts, the need for novel (complementary) lung cancer diagnostic and screening methods still exists. In this review, we focus on the assessment of lung cancer-related biomarkers in sputum in the past decennium. Besides cytology, mutation and microRNA analysis, special attention has been paid to DNA promoter hypermethylation, of which all available literature is summarised without time restriction. A model is proposed to aid in the distinction between diagnostic and risk markers. Research on the use of sputum for non-invasive detection of early-stage lung cancer has brought new insights and advanced molecular techniques. The sputum shows a promising potential for routine diagnostic and possibly screening purposes. |
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Keywords: | biomarkers DNA methylation early detection lung cancer lung cancer screening molecular diagnostics non-small-cell lung cancer |
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