Historically, lung cancer patients with a KRAS mutation, which is the molecular marker that is actually most common in patients with NSCLC (about 20-25%), have not had extremely appealing treatment options.  In fact, the available data has largely led to the conclusion that both chemotherapy and EGFR inhibitor therapy tends to be, if anything, somewhat less effective for people with a KRAS mutation.  Despite some reason for hope in early research with a few novel therapies, there really hasn't been a good alternative that is specifically effective for KRAS mutation-positive patien

The Importance of Identifying Molecular Markers in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer To understand the importance of molecular markers in the current and future treatment of lung cancer, one should first understand how lung cancer was classified up until the beginning of this decade. Pathologists would look at a sample of a patient's lung tumor under a microscope, and then make a judgment of whether the cells represented small cell lung cancer (SCLC) or non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Only a few years ago, oncologists saw lung cancer as divisible into small cell lung cancer (SCLC) and non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), with very little relevance to any division beyond that point.

Here's the podcast of the Q&A portion of the excellent webinar with Dr. Pennell on Molecular Markers in Management of NSCLC.

[powerpress]

dr-pennell-molecular-markers-qa-audio-podcast