Trends in molecular testing of lung cancer in mainland China over the decade 2010-19

Abstract Introduction Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related morbidity and mortality in the People's Republic of China. Targeted therapies for lung cancer patients, which depend on accurate identification of actionable genomic alteration, have improved survival compared to previously available treatments. However, data on the types of molecular testing commonly used in China, and how they have changed over time, are scarce. We explored the overall landscape of molecular testing of lung cancer in mainland China over the past decade. Methods We distributed a stratified random sampling survey of molecular testing to 49 hospitals from members of the Molecular Pathology Collaboration Group of Chinese Anti-Cancer Association which was weighted by the numbers of lung cancer cases in seven different geographic regions in mainland China from 2010 to 2019. The questionnaire contained four parts for all respondents. The questionnaire ascertained the use of approved in vitro diagnostics (IVD) devices published by the Center for Medical Device Evaluation, National Medical Products Administration of China (NMPA). Results A total of 226,227 Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) specimens were tested from 2010 to 2019 in the selected hospitals. The annual number of initiated molecular tests increased over time (p Conclusions Over the decade 2010-2019, progress and increased capability of molecular testing of lung cancer was achieved in mainland China. Further efforts should address the clinical application of next-generation sequencing technology, rare genomic aberrations and the balance between novel genomic testing techniques and the approval of IVD products.