Hanyang Medical Reviews  2014;34(1):10-14

doi:10.7599/hmr.2014.34.1.10

Current Issues in Lung Cancer Pathology.

Jin Haeng CHUNG 1

Affiliations

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Keywords

Lung Neoplasms; Pathology; Molecular Diagnostic Techniques

Country

Republic of Korea

Language

Korean

Abstract

Lung cancer is characterized by accumulation of oncogene activation, inactivation of tumor suppressor genes and alteration of epigenetic changes. Fortunately, the past decade has seen remarkable development in molecular pathogenesis and management of lung cancer, especially adenocarcinoma. The discovery of the biologic and therapeutic importance of acquired genetic alterations in 2 genes that encode pharmacologically targetable tyrosine kinases involved in growth factor receptor signaling, epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK), has raised hope that targeted therapy will improve survival and quality of life of patients with lung cancer. Therefore, molecular testing to detect these 2 mutated genes is more important than ever and has changed the management of the patients with lung cancer and the role of pathologists. Furthermore, as most lung cancer patients present with advanced-stage disease at the time of diagnosis, it is important to detect targetable mutations using small tissue samples or cytology specimens. Here, the author summarizes the practical impact of the molecular testing of lung cancer and introduces the current knowledge of lung cancer pathology.