Quick Summary
Most published guidelines for genomic biomarker testing in NSCLC reflect the disease epidemiology and treatments readily available in Europe and North America. Nevertheless, 60% of annual global NSCLC cases occur in Asia, where patient characteristics, tumor molecular profiles, and treatments vary greatly from the Western world. For example, mutations in the EGFR occur at a higher prevalence in Asia than in other world regions. Although medical associations such as the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer, European Society for Medical Oncology, and American Society of Clinical Oncology have described principles for tumor genomic biomarker testing in NSCLC, there is a need for recommendations specific for Asia.
This report provides consensus recommendations for NSCLC biomarker testing from Asian lung cancer experts for clinicians working in Asia to improve patient care. Biomarker testing approaches for actionable genetic alterations in EGFR, ALK, ROS1, and others are discussed for nonmetastatic and metastatic forms of adenocarcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma.