Predicting Survival in Resected Lung Cancer

A quantitative polymerase chain reaction–based assay identifies patients with early nonsquamous non–small-cell lung cancer at high risk for mortality.

Approximately 30% to 70% of patients who undergo potentially curative resection for stage I–III nonsquamous non–small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) develop recurrent disease. Currently, no clinical or molecular markers identify patients at risk for relapse. Although several studies have correlated outcomes with gene expression using fresh-frozen tissue samples, such tests have not been performed with formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) specimens or validated in independent cohorts.

Now, investigators have evaluated a 14-gene expression assay for risk stratification using quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) on FFPE samples. The assay was developed with 361 patients with nonsquamous NSCLC who underwent resection at the University of Ca…

Reviewing Author

Ramaswamy Govindan, MD