Browsing by Author "Borenius, Kristian"

Lung cancer caused the most cancer related deaths world-wide in 2018 and despite extensive research the prognosis of a lung cancer patient remains generally poor. Lung cancer is divided into different histological subtypes the two main types being non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and small cell lung cancer (SCLC). Currently lung cancer is diagnosed with radiological imaging and tissue biopsies. Generally, curative treatment can be achieved only by surgical treatment of early-stage NSCLC. Only 20–25% of NSCLC are eligible for curative intent surgery. Furthermore, 30–55% of these patients have a fatal recurrence of lung cancer. Cell-free DNA (cfDNA) has gained interest in the field of oncology. Generally, cfDNA refers to all the DNA in the body that is free from cellular confinement. Circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) is cfDNA that originates from cancer cells. It has potential to be a minimally invasive method used in various parts of cancer management including early detection, diagnosis, treatment, monitoring the response for treatment and identification of drug resistance. While the use of cfDNA still lacks clinical trials to be widely used in a clinical setting, it is highly possible that cfDNA analysis establishes a central role in the future in the oncological field.