Biomarkers and Lung Cancer: Clinical Application

A special issue of Journal of Clinical Medicine (ISSN 2077-0383). This special issue belongs to the section "Pulmonology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 March 2025 | Viewed by 2371

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Department of Thoracic Surgery, European Institute of Oncology, Via Giuseppe Ripamonti 435, 20141 Milan, Italy
Interests: lung cancer; thoracic surgery; thoracic diseases; early diagnosis
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related mortality worldwide. The five-year survival rate is strongly associated with late diagnosis (23% for stage III–IV vs. 67% for the early stages).

Screening programs based on low-dose computed tomography (LD-CT) determined a 20% reduction in lung cancer mortality. However, it is not very suitable as a screening test for the mass population due to its high costs, radiation, and false positive rate. Thus, early diagnosis is essential for its therapeutic and prognostic implications. In this scenario, the absence of a non-invasive and inexpensive screening tool is the main issue for the population, particularly for high-risk subjects. Consequently, the discovery of lung cancer biomarkers in body fluids such as blood, urine, stool, saliva, sputum and breath could play a key role in the diagnosis, prognosis and treatment of lung cancer.

The goal of this Special Issue is to share new knowledge about the latest biomolecules and techniques available for minimally invasive screening of lung cancer as well as the critical limitations that require future improvement in order to upgrade the diagnosis, prognosis and treatment of lung cancer patients.

We will include clinically oriented research papers and reviews, with a strong focus on the topics of early diagnosis of lung cancer and biomarkers.

We hope this Special Issue will be of interest to you, and we look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Roberto Gasparri
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • lung cancer
  • early diagnosis
  • prognosis
  • biomarkers
  • body fluids
  • liquid biopsy

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

11 pages, 2550 KiB  
Article
Circulating RKIP and pRKIP in Early-Stage Lung Cancer: Results from a Pilot Study
by Roberto Gasparri, Massimo Papale, Angela Sabalic, Valeria Catalano, Annamaria Deleonardis, Federica De Luca, Elena Ranieri and Lorenzo Spaggiari
J. Clin. Med. 2024, 13(19), 5830; https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm13195830 - 29 Sep 2024
Viewed by 1206
Abstract
Background: Lung cancer (LC) is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths. Although low-dose computed tomography (LD-CT) reduces mortality, its clinical use is limited by cost, radiation, and false positives. Therefore, there is an urgent need for non-invasive and cost-effective biomarkers. The Raf Kinase [...] Read more.
Background: Lung cancer (LC) is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths. Although low-dose computed tomography (LD-CT) reduces mortality, its clinical use is limited by cost, radiation, and false positives. Therefore, there is an urgent need for non-invasive and cost-effective biomarkers. The Raf Kinase Inhibitor Protein (RKIP) plays a crucial role in cancer development and progression and may also contribute to regulating the tumor–immune system axis. This protein has recently been described in biological fluids. Therefore, we conducted a pilot case–control study to assess RKIP and phosphorylated RKIP (pRKIP) levels in the urine and blood of LC patients. Methods: A novel enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) assay was used to measure RKIP and pRKIP levels in urine and blood samples of two cohorts of LC patients and healthy controls (HSs). Furthermore, the biomarkers levels were correlated with tumor characteristics. Results: Serum, but not urine, levels of RKIP were significantly elevated in LC patients, distinguishing them from low- and high-risk healthy subjects with 93% and 74% accuracy, respectively. The RKIP/pRKIP ratio (RpR score) showed an accuracy of 90% and 79% in distinguishing LC patients from HS and HR-HS, respectively. Additionally, the RpR score correlated better with dimension, stage, and lymph node involvement in the tumor group. Conclusions: The serum RKIP and pRKIP profile may be a promising novel biomarker for early-stage LC. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biomarkers and Lung Cancer: Clinical Application)
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21 pages, 2835 KiB  
Article
Toll-like Receptors: Key Players in Squamous Cell Carcinoma Progression
by Jolanta Smok-Kalwat, Paulina Mertowska, Sebastian Mertowski, Stanisław Góźdź and Ewelina Grywalska
J. Clin. Med. 2024, 13(15), 4531; https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm13154531 - 2 Aug 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 853
Abstract
Background/Objectives Lung squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) is one of the major subtypes of lung cancer, characterized by diverse molecular pathways and variable clinical outcomes. This study focused on assessing the levels of TLR-2, TLR-3, TLR-4, TLR-7, TLR-8, and TLR-9 on peripheral blood lymphocytes [...] Read more.
Background/Objectives Lung squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) is one of the major subtypes of lung cancer, characterized by diverse molecular pathways and variable clinical outcomes. This study focused on assessing the levels of TLR-2, TLR-3, TLR-4, TLR-7, TLR-8, and TLR-9 on peripheral blood lymphocytes in patients with newly diagnosed SCC compared to a group of healthy controls, in the context of disease development and patient survival, conducted over three years. The study aimed to investigate the differences in TLR expression between SCC patients and healthy people and to understand their role in the development of the disease and patient survival over three years. Methods: The study included the assessment of TLR-2, TLR-3, TLR-4, TLR-7, TLR-8, and TLR-9 levels on peripheral blood lymphocytes in patients with newly diagnosed SCC and in the control group. The expression of TLRs was measured using flow cytometry, and the soluble forms of the tested TLRs were measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. All the analyses were conducted over a three-year period from the time patients were recruited to the study. The obtained test results were statistically analyzed. Results: Results showed statistically significant differences in TLR expression between the groups, with higher TLR levels correlating with an advanced stage of disease and poorer survival rates. This suggests that the deregulation of TLR levels may be involved in promoting tumor development and influencing its microenvironment. Conclusions: The research, conducted over three years, indicates the need for further research on the role of TLRs in SCC, including their potential use as therapeutic targets and biomarkers. This may help to increase the effectiveness of standard treatments and improve clinical outcomes in patients with SCC. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biomarkers and Lung Cancer: Clinical Application)
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