According to international guidelines, it is mandatory to evaluate predictive biomarkers of targeted therapies and the response to immune check point inhibitors for patients with non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer (NS-NSCLC). For this purpose, a tissue sample is nowadays the gold standard, but biofluids, particularly peripheral blood, can be a complementary and sometimes an alternative approach to assess the status of different druggable genomic alterations of advanced NS-NSCLC. A liquid biopsy (LB) is an attractive approah for better treatment decision-making by thoracic oncologists for NSCLC patients in daily practice at both initial diagnosis and tumor progression. We describe the experience of a clinical and molecular pathology laboratory (LPCE, Nice, France) developing the use of in-house LB in thoracic oncology. Moreover, we report the changes in clinical care, the advantages, but also the possible constraints associated with implantation of LB in routine clinical practice.
Keywords: Advantages; Limitations; Liquid biopsy; Lung cancer; Organization.
© 2023 The Author.