Lung Cancer Genetic Tests

If you have lung cancer, your health care provider may order genetic tests. These tests look for changes in the genes of the cancer cells in your body. Gene changes are also called gene variants or mutations.

There are many types of gene changes that are found in lung cancer. Knowing what type of gene change you have may help your provider to: Predict how your lung cancer will develop over time; Match your cancer to a targeted therapy that's most likely to help you; Targeted therapy uses drugs or other substances that mainly attack specific cancer cells and cause less harm to normal cells. It usually has fewer side effects than chemotherapy or radiation therapy.

There are different types of targeted therapies. Each type is designed to work for cancers with specific gene changes. So, lung cancer genetic tests are important to check if your cancer has a gene change that can be treated with targeted therapy.

There are two main types of lung cancer, small cell lung cancer (SCLC) and non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Most people with lung cancer have NSCLC. The most common lung cancer genetic tests are done for NSCLC.

That's because this type of lung cancer is more likely to have gene changes that respond to targeted therapies. Genes are parts of DNA in your cells that you inherit from your parents. Genes carry information that controls what you look like and how your body works.

The gene changes found in lung cancer affect genes that control how fast your cells grow and divide to make new cells. Cells with these changes grow out of control and form cancerous tumors that can spread through your body. The gene changes in lung cancer usually aren't inherited.

That means you can't pass them down to your children. You develop gene changes in certain cells in your lungs after you're born. These changes can happen if you're exposed to substances that cause cancer, such as tobacco smoke, radon gas, or air pollution.

Gene changes can also happen if your cells make a mistake when they divide to make new cells.

Why this test is done

You may need a lung cancer genetic testing if you have been diagnosed with lung cancer. The test results may help your provider know which treatments are likely to help you the most and which ones may not help at all.

How to prepare

Ask your provider if you need to do anything to prepare for your test.

Sample type

Blood Tissue/Biopsy

Other names for this test

Lung cancer targeted gene panel