Genetic and Genomic Tools for Personalized Treatment of Lung Cancer

Dear Colleagues,

The molecular basis of cancer development and progression is the Darwinian selection of cell clones based on the continuous acquisition of driver gene mutations in the tumor cells. For this reason, genetic alterations in tumors are the basis of the modern classification of cancer. Moreover, genetic biomarkers also stratify patients for the most suitable targeted therapy.

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related mortality in the world for both males and females. As such, lung cancer has been the focus of many of the recent basic and clinical research activities. In the last decade, a large number of the genetic drivers of lung cancer have been identified, and targeted therapies were developed for many of them. This led to the development and application of new diagnostic tools in the clinical routine. Starting with focused assays for point mutations and continuing with small panels that can also identify fusions and copy number alterations, many labs today use large comprehensive panels that can also detect tumor mutation burden. As a malignancy that is tightly related to carcinogenic exposure from tobacco smoking, studies of lung cancer genomics have also provided us with insights regarding the interplay between cancer and the environment.

As cancer is a dynamic process and changes with time and therapy, liquid biopsy has been studied and applied in lung cancer. Through the analysis of low-frequency tumor DNA in the circulation, this tool enables the diagnosis, monitoring, and detection of drug resistance in patients receiving lung-cancer therapy.

In this Special Issue of Genes, we welcome reviews, mini-reviews, new methods, and original research articles that highlight the recent developments and advance our understanding of lung cancer. Topics of interest include but are not limited to the role of genetic and epigenetic alterations in lung cancer development and progression, and their potential clinical implications for diagnosis, prognosis, and in predicting therapeutic efficacies and outcomes. We also welcome studies that highlight new technologies and non-invasive approaches to monitoring treatment response, the early detection of primary disease or recurrence, and the identification of mechanisms of acquired resistance to therapy.

Prof. Dov Hershkovitz
Guest Editor

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• Lung cancer
• Liquid biopsy
• Circulating tumor DNA
• Tumor mutation burden
• Next-generation sequencing