NGS Genome Analysis in Personalisation of Lung Cancer Treatment (ALCAPONE)

The identification of driver mutations in the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) as the primary oncogenic event in a subset of lung adenocarcinomas led to a model of targeted treatment and genetic profiling of the disease. EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) confer remission in some patients, but use of the EGFR-TKIs is limited to patients with adenocarcinomas who have known activating EGFR mutations. And resistance to TKI treatment has become an increasingly important cause of treatment failure. Therefore, identification of the molecular components involved could lead to the development of effective therapy. Today only a limited number of genetic alterations are studied.

Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) has the potential of becoming an important tool in clinical and therapeutic decision-making in oncology owing to its enhanced sensitivity in DND mutation detection.