Cancers, Vol. 16, Pages 1508: Prognostic Biomarkers of Systemic Inflammation in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: A Narrative Review of Challenges and Opportunities

Cancers, Vol. 16, Pages 1508: Prognostic Biomarkers of Systemic Inflammation in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: A Narrative Review of Challenges and Opportunities Cancers doi: 10.3390/cancers16081508 Authors: Mark Stares Leo R. Brown Dhruv Abhi Iain Phillips Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is a common malignancy and is associated with poor survival outcomes. Biomarkers of systemic inflammation derived from blood tests collected as part of routine clinical care offer prognostic information for patients with NSCLC that may assist clinical decision making. They are an attractive tool, as they are inexpensive, easily measured, and reproducible in a variety of healthcare settings. Despite the wealth of evidence available to support them, these inflammatory biomarkers are not yet routinely used in clinical practice. In this narrative review, the key inflammatory indices reported in the literature and their prognostic significance in NSCLC are described. Key challenges limiting their clinical application are highlighted, including the need to define the optimal biomarker of systemic inflammation, a lack of understanding of the systemic inflammatory landscape of NSCLC as a heterogenous disease, and the lack of clinical relevance in reported outcomes. These challenges may be overcome with standardised recording and reporting of inflammatory biomarkers, clinicopathological factors, and survival outcomes. This will require a collaborative approach, to which this field of re...
Source: Cancers - Category: Cancer & Oncology Authors: Tags: Review Source Type: research