A blood-based gene expression signature of early-stage non-small cell lung cancer.

69 Background: Accurate blood-based biomarker for early cancer detection could be an easier and more convenient screening option than monitoring the target organ via tissue or imaging. We recently identified and validated eight genetic biomarkers of early-stage lung adenocarcinoma detectable in both peripheral whole blood (PWB) and lung tissue of smokers. Since biomarkers distinguishing benign disease versus lung malignancy across all cell types are needed in the diagnostic clinical setting, it is important to test the identified biomarkers in other lung cancer histologies, particularly in squamous cell carcinoma (SQCC), the second most common lung cancer histology after adenocarcinoma (AD). Methods: Using Real-Time Quantitative PCR (qRT-PCR), we measured mRNA levels for the eight candidate genes in PWB of 48 randomly sampled stage I SQCC cases, in addition to previously analyzed 82 AD cases and 130 age, sex, and smoking frequency matched healthy controls from the Environment And Genetics in Lung cancer E...