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Vol.60 No.2 contents | Japanese/English |
 | Full Text of PDF (680K) Article in Japanese |
- Review Article -
Updated Genomic Medicine for Lung Cancer: The Clinical Usefulness and Future Issues Associated with Analytical Technologies for Cell-free DNA in Peripheral Blood
Yasushi Goto11Department of Thoracic Oncology, National Cancer Center Hospital, Japan
Molecular-targeted drugs for specific genetic aberrations are already used for lung cancer treatment in clinical practice, and new molecular-targeted drugs are also currently in clinical development. Personalized treatment for lung cancer based on genomic medicine, which simultaneously investigates multiple genes of patients with lung cancer and detects genetic aberrations, is performed in Japan. Recently, advances in DNA analysis technologies have enabled the accurate detection of genetic aberrations from a tiny DNA sample, and liquid biopsies using bodily fluids, such as peripheral blood, urine or saliva, are emerging as genomic analysis methods for cancer. Many investigations have suggested that liquid biopsies, particularly those analyzing the cell-free DNA (cfDNA) in peripheral blood samples, may become useful biomarkers for lung cancer therapies. We herein report the recent advances in cfDNA analysis technologies using digital polymerase chain reaction or next-generation sequencing and reviewed the recent findings from investigations on the potential clinical application of these technologies to the early diagnosis of lung cancer, selection of anti-lung cancer drugs and prediction of the efficacy of anti-lung cancer drugs. Finally, we discuss future issues and perspectives concerning cfDNA analysis technologies for clinical applications.
key words: Cell-free DNA, Liquid biopsy, Genomic medicine for lung cancer, Digital PCR, Next generation sequencer
Received: December 26, 2019
Accepted: February 13, 2020
JJLC 60 (2): 90-98, 2020
