About this Research Topic

Background

Lung cancer is the most common cause of cancer-related death worldwide. In recent years, advances in molecular diagnostics have transformed the management of advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), allowing for increasingly personalized approaches. As molecular testing strategies have evolved, new potentially actionable molecular alterations have been discovered, making treatment with new targeted therapies possible.

Liquid biopsy is a minimally invasive biofluid-based approach that has the potential to provide information and improve the accuracy of diagnosis to inform patients’ treatment selection and prognosis. Several promising circulating biomarkers have been widely investigated, such as circulating tumor DNA, extracellular vesicles, micro-RNA (miRNA), and Long Non-Coding RNAs (lncRNAs) secreted from tumor cells. These biomarkers can be found in plasma, urine, and other biological fluids. The role of these biomarkers in predicting early diagnosis, relapse, survival, and clinical response to therapies is still controversial.

This Research Topic aims to deepen the understanding and characterization of circulating biomarkers in lung cancer, including non-small cell and small cell lung cancer, and elucidate the potential molecular mechanisms. The goal of this Research Topic is to provide an extensive resource of articles highlighting the value of circulating biomarkers for understanding tumor clonal diversity, from characterization of the disease to monitoring tumor response. The identification of potential new effective players involved in tumorigenesis needs to be further investigated. Contributions from translational, as well as clinical, research are encouraged.

The editors welcome the submission of Original Research, (Mini-)Reviews, and Opinion articles, focusing on, but not limited to, the following subtopics:

• Molecular mechanisms or biological insights related to circulating biomarkers in lung cancer
• Characterization of circulating biomarkers of response or resistance to therapies (including kinase inhibitors or immunotherapy) in lung cancer
• Original Research articles that investigate new circulating biomarkers with mechanistic insight
• Original Research articles that investigate potential molecular signatures of response or resistance to therapies in lung cancer
• Clinical studies, such as cohort studies, that assess circulating biomarkers with biological insights
• Review articles that summarize the relevant literature on circulating biomarkers in lung cancer.

Please note:

Manuscripts consisting solely of bioinformatics or computational analysis of public genomic or transcriptomic databases which are not accompanied by validation (independent cohort or biological validation in vitro or in vivo) are out of scope for this section and will not be accepted as part of this Research Topic.

Case Reports and Clinical Trials should be submitted via Frontiers in Medicine, Pulmonary Medicine which is co-hosting this Research Topic.




Topic Editor, Marc Denis, receives financial support from AztraZeneca (research grants) and AMGEN (consulting fees). The other topic editors declare no competing interests with regard to the Research Topic subject.

Keywords: biomarkers, lung cancer, circulating biomarkers, liquid biopsy, non-small cell lung cancer, targeted therapies, circulating tumor DNA, extracellular vesicles, micro-RNA, long non-coding RNA

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.

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