Current challenges in lung cancer early detection biomarkers

Abstract

Lung cancer is a public health challenge in Europe and worldwide. Almost 400,000 new lung cancers were diagnosed and over 330,000 Europeans died of lung cancer in 2006 [1]. The average 5-year survival from lung cancer in Europe is around 15%. Nevertheless, survival from an early stage operable non small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) reaches around 70%. Nowadays, only a third of lung cancer patients are diagnosed at these early operable stages and thus the dismal survival numbers. The decrease in lung cancer mortality will only be achieved if successful strategies are developed in three directions: smoking cessation, early diagnosis and development of new molecular targeted therapies.