Lung Cancer Precision Diagnosis

PRECISION DIAGNOSIS IS THE KEY TO ADVANCES IN LUNG CANCER

Until a few years ago, lung cancer was a disease with few treatment options. Nowadays more treatments are possible that can be combined, or not, with chemotherapy, immunotherapy or drugs targeted at a specific abnormality. The selection of the appropriate treatment is based on an accurate diagnosis.

Lung cancer does not usually show any noticeable symptoms until the disease is quite advanced. “Patients are usually diagnosed when they are already at stage IV after developing symptoms from the disease. Although under the circumstances we may think that having to wait 1 or 2 weeks to get an accurate, precise diagnosis is a waste of time, in reality, an accurate diagnosis allows us to provide the most precise treatment for each patient,” explains the Medical Oncology team at HC Cancer Centre.

This is not only dependent on an imaging test such as CT or PET-CT. Tests need to be complemented by the use of molecular diagnostic techniques carried out on the biopsy or on the patient's plasma (liquid biopsy), these enable us to make adjustments and deliver the best treatment possible.

It can sometimes be complicated, because the sample is small or because access to these techniques can be complex, but, without doubt an

improved diagnosis at the beginning has

an impact on survival, because we can select the most precise treatment for each patient.

Fortunately, we currently have a truly diverse therapeutic arsenal for the treatment of lung cancer including:

Surgery, this has traditionally been used mainly to treat early-stage lung cancer, when it has been detected thanks to screening and early diagnostic programmes.

Radiotherapy, this is a highly effective weapon against many tumours, specifically against lung cancer in locally advanced tumours, radiotherapy given with chemotherapy at the same time has very encouraging curative results. Chemotherapy, this continues to play a key role in lung cancer, being the treatment of choice in many cases, alone or in combination with other therapies.

Immunotherapy, approaches the tumour in a different way, not just treating it as something that is growing in the body, but also treating the body which is allowing it to grow, helping our immune system to recognise the tumour or block its growth.

Targeted therapies, these are intended for those patients who have a specific molecular abnormality on which the tumour is dependent. This specific drug therapy, administered orally or intravenously, blocks these abnormalities allowing excellent disease control.

HC Cancer Centre has a specialist lung cancer team who accompany the patient from the time of diagnosis, continuing throughout treatment. By relying on precision medicine, they have the resources necessary to deliver a precise diagnosis, guaranteeing the best treatment to increase survival and improve our patients’ quality of life.