Soluble epidermal growth factor receptor isoforms in non-small cell lung cancer tissue and in blood

These results demonstrate, for the first time, the existence of sEGFR isoforms specifically produced by NSCLC tumor cells which could represent a new potential biomarker for diagnosis and therapy of lung tumors. However, our observations indicate that more highly sensitive and specific quantitative assays are needed in order to reliably detect the tumor-associated sEGFR isoforms in plasma samples.