Lung cancer is one of the deadliest
cancers globally and accounts for most of the
cancer?related deaths in
India. Comprehensive data on
lung cancer in
India are lacking. This
review aimed to discuss the epidemiological
trends of
lung cancers and driver
mutations as well as the recent advancements in
molecular diagnostics and
therapeutic options primarily in non杝mall
cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in
India.
Electronic databases, such as
PubMed and Google Scholar, were searched to retrieve the relevant
literature published in the past 5 years. As per the GLOBOCAN 2018
report,
lung cancer was ranked the fourth leading cause of
cancer (5.9% cases) in
India, in all ages and sexes. Furthermore, 63,475 of all
cancer?related deaths (8.1%) were attributed to
lung cancer (cumulative
risk 0.60), making it the third leading cause of
cancer?related
mortality. The common targets for
treatment in
lung cancer patients mainly include EGFR
mutation, ALK and ROS1 rearrangements and PDL1 expression. In
India, EGFR
mutations and ALK re?arrangement are commonly reported, but there is limited data of PD?L1 expression.
Molecular testing has gained importance as several
biomarkers are being targeted to treat
lung cancer patients.
Surgery,
radiotherapy, systemic
chemotherapy, and personalized molecular?targeted
therapy prolong the overall
survival (OS) in
patients with NSCLC. Although
chemotherapy and molecular?targeted
therapies have greatly improved the clinical outcomes, prolonged
disease control could not be attained in NSCLC
patients without a driver
mutation. In this situation,
immunotherapy seems to be potentially beneficial to obtain long?lasting
disease control with minimal adverse events.