Lung cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer around the world, accounting for 13% overall in 2012. Each year an estimated 1.6 million deaths are caused by lung cancer making it the leading cause of cancer deaths worldwide (more than breast, colon and prostate cancers combined). Approximately 1.8 million new cases are diagnosed each year.1
Lung cancer is categorised as either Small Cell Lung Cancer (SCLC) accounting for approximately 15%, or Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) which accounts for the remaining approximately 85% of cases.2
New immunotherapy (using the body’s own immune cells to attack cancer cells) has demonstrated great promise for patients with advanced NSCLC. Personalized medicine is providing hope by treating a patient already diagnosed with lung cancer with drugs that are effective based on specific characteristics of their tumor. Key biomarkers with known targeted therapies that today can be detected with diagnostics systems include EGFR, ALK, ROS1 and PD-L1.
