The clinical challenge
Treatment selection is dependent upon a clear diagnosis
Securing a clear diagnosis in patients with NSCLC is particularly important because certain targeted therapy agents are more effective in patients with squamous NSCLC and others are more appropriate for those with nonsquamous NSCLC.1,2 In addition, some agents may be associated with a greater risk of adverse effects in patients with squamous NSCLC compared with those with nonsquamous NSCLC.3
Current gold standard methods of classifications have severe limitations4-6
Routine histopathology is the current standard of lung tumor classification but has demonstrated only 60% to 70% concordance among pathologists.4 Immunohistochemistry's (IHC) performance is limited by the variable sensitivity and specificity of each marker.5,6 As a result, misclassification is a significant problem; up to 40% of NSCLC is currently incorrectly categorized.4 Furthermore, the tests used to classify and diagnose these patients are primarily subjective; there is a lack of objective results.
A better diagnostic method is needed
The shortcomings associated with current methods of classifying NSCLC7,8 point to the need for a highly accurate, objective, reproducible, and standardized classification tool in NSCLC diagnosis.
Introducing miRview™ squamous—a sensitive and accurate diagnostic test
miRview™ squamous is a cutting-edge, microRNA-based molecular diagnostic tool that accurately differentiates squamous from nonsquamous NSCLC. It offers
- High accuracy
- Simple interpretation
- Objectivity
- Standardization
- Quantitative analysis
- Cutting-edge molecular biology
- Scagliotti GV, Parikh P, von Pawel J, et al. Phase III study comparing cisplatin plus gemcitabine with cisplatin plus pemetrexed in chemotherapy-naive patients with advanced-stage non-small-cell lung cancer. J Clin Oncol. 2008;26(21):3543-3551.
- Clark GM, Zborowski DM, Santabarbara P, et al, and the National Cancer Institute of Canada Clinical Trials Group Study BR.21. Smoking history and epidermal growth factor receptor expression as predictors of survival benefit from erlotinib for patients with non–small-cell lung cancer in the National Cancer Institute of Canada Clinical Trials Group study BR.21. Clin Lung Cancer. 2006;7(6):389-394.
- Johnson DH, Fehrenbacher L, Novotny WF, et al. Randomized phase II trial comparing bevacizumab plus carboplatin and paclitaxel with carboplatin and paclitaxel alone in previously untreated locally advanced or metastatic non-small-cell lung cancer. J Clin Oncol. 2004;22(11):2184-2191.
- Stang A, Pohlabeln H, Müller KM, Jahn I, Giersiepen K, Jöckel KH. Diagnostic agreement in the histopathological evaluation of lung cancer tissue in a population-based case-control study. Lung Cancer. 2006;52(1):29-36.
- Wang BY, Gil J, Kaufman D, Gan L, Kohtz DS, Burstein DE. P63 in pulmonary epithelium, pulmonary squamous neoplasms, and other pulmonary tumors. Hum Pathol. 2002;33(9):921-926.
- Maeshima AM, Omatsu M, Tsuta K, Asamura H, Matsuno Y. Immunohistochemical expression of TTF-1 in various cytological subtypes of primary lung adenocarcinoma, with special reference to intratumoral heterogeneity. Pathol Int. 2008;58(1):31-37.
- Field RW, Smith BJ, Platz CE, et al. Lung cancer histologic type in the surveillance, epidemiology, and end results registry versus independent review. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2004;96(14):1105-1107.
- Perelman M, Rosenwald S, Spector Y, et al. MicroRNA biomarkers for differential diagnosis of lung tumors. Presented at: United States and Canadian Academy of Pathology Annual Meeting; March 7-13, 2009; Boston, MA. Abstract 1630.
