Lung cancer: Molecular markers

Abstract

Lung cancer is the most frequent and one of the most devastating occupational cancers.Therefore, early detection is a major focus area and could be improved by the use of molecular markers. Specific molecular markers are also crucial in the development of molecular diagnosis and molecular targeted treatments. Molecular markers can reflect either the early effects of exposure or the secondary effects of the exposure–related early effects, which are more closely related to the actual disease process. Although early effects may be reversible or have avery low probability of causing the development of a tumor, they can also be closely related tothe disease process. To make a molecular marker relevant in disease prevention, it should measure an event in the disease process. Furthermore, it should be able to accommodate individual differences in exposure and susceptibility, be readily detectable, and show a dose–response to the exposure level (Talaska G, Roh J, Zhou Q, Yonsei Med J. 37:1–18, 1996).