A study looking at how to test the genes in lung cancer cells (Stratified Medicine Programme Two - SMP2)

Currently doctors decide on how to treat a cancer by looking at

• What type of cancer it is
• Where it is in your body
• The size of cancer
• What the cancer cells look like

We know that this works for many people but not for all. This could be because there are slight differences in the cancer cells from person to person even if they have the same type of cancer. So researchers have been looking in detail at the differences between cancer cells. They've found that some cancer cells have particular proteins in the cell and others don’t. Or sometimes cancer cells have far more of a particular protein than healthy cells. These differences between cells are caused by changes to the genes in the cancer cells.

Researchers want to look at a way to test for these genetic changes. They hope that in the future doctors may be better able to match treatment to the changes in the genes of cancer cells. This is called stratified medicine.

To do this, the researchers need to collect samples of cancer tissue from a large number of lung cancer patients and test them for genetic changes. And to gather information about what treatment they have and what happens to them. We also use this information to find out whether these patients would be eligible for a large clinical trial called the National Lung Matrix trial. 

The researchers also want to find out what the costs are to do this and how best it can be used as a part of routine care in the future.