Dr. Chittoor on Guidelines for Liquid Biopsies in NSCLC

Sreeni Chittoor, MD, FACP, a medical oncologist and hematologist at Texas Oncology, discusses the FDA and National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) recommendations for use of liquid biopsies in patients with non—small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

The FDA has approved liquid biopsies for identifying EGFR mutations, such as exon 19 deletion and for use on patients who progress on first-line EGFR TKIs, explains Chittoor. Liquid biopsies are often used to identify the most common EGFR mutation, T790M, which is found in about 50% to 60% of patients with NSCLC, says Chittoor.

However, the NCCN has guidelines recommending broader molecular testing, including use of the LungSEQ and 50SEQ panels. With LungSEQ, there are different molecular markers being looked at, which in addition to EGFR include ROS1, ALK, BRAF, NTRK, RET, MET, AKT1, PTEN, and HER2, concludes Chittoor.