Lung cancer is no longer one disease.

For patients with advanced NSCLC, treatment can depend on identifying specific mutations and fusions. But no single biopsy captures every alteration in every patient.

That is where liquid biopsy can complement tissue testing.

In this interview, thoracic oncologist Gilberto Lopes, MD, discusses why tissue and liquid biopsy are increasingly used together. Liquid biopsy can provide faster results and may detect alterations not found in tissue, while tissue can also identify alterations not captured in blood.

He also discusses the growing importance of co-mutations and molecular changes associated with treatment resistance.

Watch the interview to hear Dr. Lopes discuss the evolving role of liquid biopsy in precision oncology.

Lucence's liquid biopsy product is not indicated or intended as a companion diagnostic, is not indicated or intended to supplant physician medical judgment, and is not indicated or intended to diagnose and/or to identify appropriate treatment options for a particular condition or disease.

The statements made by Dr. Lopes represent the expertise of Dr. Lopes, specifically, and do not necessarily represent the views of Lucence as an organization. Dr. Lopes is a paid consultant of Lucence.

Video Transcript:

There are some mutations and some fusions that we do not see in tissue but see in liquid biopsy.

And there are also some mutations that we find in tissue but don't always see in liquid biopsy.

Hi, my name is Gilberto Lopes.

I'm a medical oncologist specializing in thoracic oncology at the Sylvester Cancer Center in Miami, Florida.

Liquid biopsies have become more important, not just because they can be helpful when we don't have enough tissue or in situations in which repeating a biopsy may be dangerous, but also because we tend to do them both at the same time.

We also have an advantage in terms of time. The turnaround time for liquid biopsies is faster than for tissue.

So today, they are actually complementary.

More and more, we're learning not just about the talked-about genomic alterations, but also about co-mutations.

And more and more, we're also learning about how to manage resistance and specific changes that may occur when patients are on specific targeted agents.