Liquid biopsy in detecting early non-small cell lung cancer

Lung cancer screening programs, particularly in the UK, have shown a decrease in lung cancer-related deaths among individuals who underwent low-dose computed tomography (CT) screening. Researchers are now focusing on evaluating cell-free DNA through various methods to determine if pre-diagnostic mutations can be detected years before clinical diagnosis. This could help identify individuals at high risk of developing lung cancer. However, while this approach has successfully identified precursors of follicular lymphoma, the presence of occult lung preneoplasia in non-small-cell lung cancer still requires further investigation.