Liquid biopsy on the horizon in immunotherapy of non-small cell lung cancer: current status, challenges, and perspectives

Abstract

Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is one of the most threatening malignancies to human health and life. In most cases, patients with NSCLC are already at an advanced stage when they are diagnosed. In recent years, lung cancer has made great progress in precision therapy, but the efficacy of immunotherapy is unstable, and its response rate varies from patient to patient. Several biomarkers have been proposed to predict the outcomes of immunotherapy, such as programmed cell death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression and tumor mutational burden (TMB). Nevertheless, the detection assays are invasive and demanding on tumor tissue. To effectively predict the outcomes of immunotherapy, novel biomarkers are needed to improve the performance of conventional biomarkers. Liquid biopsy is to capture and detect circulating tumor cells (CTCs), circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) and exosomes in body fluids, such as blood, saliva, urine, pleural fluid and cerebrospinal fluid as samples from patients, so as to make analysis and diagnosis of cancer and other diseases. The application of liquid biopsy provides a new possible solution, as it has several advantages such as non-invasive, real-time dynamic monitoring, and overcoming tumor heterogeneity. Liquid biopsy has shown predictive value in immunotherapy, significantly improving the precision treatment of lung cancer patients. Herein, we review the application of liquid biopsy in predicting the outcomes of immunotherapy in NSCLC patients, and discuss the challenges and future directions in this field.

Coaxial dual-path electrochemical biosensing and logic strategy-based detection of lung cancer-derived exosomal PD-L1

“…1,2 Therefore, the detection and identification of lung cancerderived ExoPD-L1 is crucial for the treatment of lung cancer. [3][4][5] However, the existing methods not only lack sufficient sensitivity but also cannot effectively identify the cancer origin of ExoPD-L1 due to the content of lung cancer ExoPD-L1 being very low in human blood. Therefore, there is an urgent need to develop a novel sensor for highly sensitive detection and highly accurate identification of lung cancerderived ExoPD-L1.…”

Liquid Biopsy in Lung Cancer: Biomarkers for the Management of Recurrence and Metastasis

“…As technology continues to evolve, liquid biopsies are slowly becoming indispensable for the clinical management of advanced lung cancer. Although previous studies have investigated liquid biopsies in lung cancer [38][39][40][41][42], our review offers novel insights by specifically highlighting their potential applications for the management of metastasis and recurrence in NSCLC. Here, we comprehensively review relevant data, contributing to the literature by thoroughly elucidating the role of liquid biopsies with a focus on clinical applications for the better management of metastatic and recurrent NSCLC, which are the most serious and poorly managed clinical complications of lung cancer leading to treatment failure and patient death.…”

Diagnosing Orthotopic Lung Tumor Using a NTR-Activatable Near-Infrared Fluorescent Probe by Tracheal Inhalation

“…Lung cancer remains the primary cause of cancer mortality all over the world. − Histologically, lung cancer is classified as non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and small cell lung cancer (SCLC), of which NSCLC accounts for approximately 90% of diagnosed patients and most are already locally advanced or have metastatic disease when diagnosed. − The tumor microenvironment (TME) is an important factor affecting the success of tumor diagnosis and treatment . Among them, the hypoxic is a common feature prevalent in various cancers …”