Biomarker landscape in advanced NSCLC: insights from a national prospective registry

The determination of actionable genes is a necessity in lung cancer for proper care practice. The Spanish Lung Cancer Group (Fundación GECP) has performed an exploratory analysis of this aspect, specifically in stage IV non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

The Thoracic Tumor Registry (TTR) is a Spanish prospective, observational cohort study. At the time of data extraction (March 2024), 27,399 patients were enrolled from 82 hospitals.

There were 13,583 patients with stage IV NSCLC. The analysis of at least one tumor marker was performed in 85.7 % of non-squamous and 62.8 % of squamous patients (p-value < 0.001), with differences between autonomous communities. In the non-squamous population, the three most frequently analysed markers were EGFR (77.3 %), ALK (66.1 %) and PD-L1 (56.3 %). Biomarker profiling has undergone a more pronounced and extensive development in squamous histology in recent years. Molecular determinations that do not have a generally approved targeted therapy have also increased. Biomarker testing in patients with ECOG PS 2 is lower compared to ECOG PS < 2 (77.6 % vs 82.6 %, p-value < 0.001). Sub-analysis shows rates also vary by hospital size.

The analysis of tumor markers in stage IV NSCLC patients continues to increase in Spain, at the same level as in Europe o USA, despite the absence of national plans. There are clinically guided determinations that are rare in squamous histology but have an appreciable percentage of positivity. Even in patients with ECOG PS2, biomarker testing with high clinical suspicion should be considered.

NCT02941458.