VIDEO: Understanding the molecular biology of small cell lung cancer

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Some of the most interesting discussion going on right now is around diagnostics related to small cell lung cancer. We have proposed subtyping. Now, that subtyping is exciting because it helps us to hopefully identify subgroups of patients with small cell lung cancer that are really going to benefit most from specific different treatment options.

So, drugs in development may work better within one subtype of small cell lung cancer than others, and this helps us focus — really specifically treating the patients that are going to benefit most from this. Now there’s a lot of work to still do with the subtyping. I think, generally speaking, the subtyping is probably going to be finalized really around where it is now.

There are a couple of big discussions still to have. The bigger thing, though, is how to do this on a large scale as far as monitoring and doing the subtyping testing. From the initial diagnosis, we have tissue. Are we going to need tissue every time there’s progression on a regimen to get the subtyping again? Because small cell lung cancer is different than non-small cell, then we can see some shifting of these subtypes.

So, is a tissue biopsy going to be necessary every time, or can we develop blood-based testing that helps us to decipher any subtype switching that may go on?

So, there’s a lot of work still to do, but for the first time, we’re really having a bit more nuance to the diagnosis of small cell lung cancer.