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Review
. 2024 May 23;16(11):1980.
doi: 10.3390/cancers16111980.

The Role of Biomarkers in Lung Cancer Screening

Efimia Boutsikou  1 , Georgia Hardavella  2 , Eleni Fili  3 , Aikaterini Bakiri  4 , Stylianos Gaitanakis  5 , Alexandra Kote  6 , Konstantinos Samitas  7 , Ioannis Gkiozos  8
Affiliations
Review

The Role of Biomarkers in Lung Cancer Screening

Efimia Boutsikou et al. Cancers (Basel). .

Abstract

Background: Lung Cancer Screening (LCS) is an evolving field with variations in its implementation in various countries. There are only scarce data from National LCS programs.

Aim: We aim to provide an up-to-date overview of the current evidence regarding the use of biomarkers in LCS.

Materials and methods: A multidisciplinary Task Force experts' panel collaborated and conducted a systematic literature search, followed by screening, review and synthesis of available evidence.

Results: Biomarkers in LCS could be used to improve risk stratification in high-risk participants, improve clarification regarding indeterminate lung nodules and avoid overdiagnosis in suspicious lung findings. Currently, there seem to be promising biomarkers (blood/serum/breath) that have been studied in various trials; however, there is still a lack of solid evidence in clinical validation that would pave the way for their integration into LCS programs.

Conclusions: Biomarkers are the next logical step in improving the LCS pathway and its efficiency by playing an adjuvant role in a minimally invasive way. National LCS programs and pilot studies should integrate biomarkers to validate their accuracy in real-life LCS participants.

Keywords: biomarkers; blood; implementation; lung cancer; risk stratification; screening; serum; volatile organic compounds.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Proposal for biomarkers’ application in LCS pathway. Biomarkers can be used before LCS to improve high-risk participants’ selection as well as during LCS to avoid overdiagnosis and unnecessary investigations.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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