Driver genes in non-small cell lung cancer: Characteristics, detection methods, and targeted therapies

// Qing-Ge Zhu 1, * , Shi-Ming Zhang 1, * , Xiao-Xiao Ding 1, * , Bing He 1 and Hu-Qin Zhang 1 1 The Key Laboratory of Biomedical Information Engineering of Ministry of Education, School of Life Science and Technology, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710049, P.R. China * These authors contributed equally to the work Correspondence to: Hu-Qin Zhang, email: huqzhang@mail.xjtu.edu.cn Bing He, email: hebinghb@mail.xjtu.edu.cn Keywords: driver genes, non-small cell lung cancer, characteristics, detection methods, targeted therapies Received: February 23, 2017 Accepted: March 30, 2017 Published: April 10, 2017 ABSTRACT Lung cancer is one of the most common causes of cancer-related death in the world. The large number of lung cancer cases is non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), which approximately accounting for 75% of lung cancer. Over the past years, our comprehensive knowledge about the molecular biology of NSCLC has been rapidly enriching, which has promoted the discovery of driver genes in NSCLC and directed FDA-approved targeted therapies. Of course, the targeted therapies based on driver genes provide a more exact option for advanced non-small cell lung cancer, improving the survival rate of patients. Now, we will review the landscape of driver genes in NSCLC including the characteristics, detection methods, the application of target therapy and challenges.