ReviewCancers2021
Liquid Biopsy for Small Cell Lung Cancer either De Novo or Transformed: Systematic Review of Different Applications and Meta-Analysis.
Review in Cancers, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 18 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
18 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- A meta-analysis of circulating tumor DNA as a survival indicator in small cell lung cancer patients.Clinical and experimental medicine · 2023Pooled it
- Novel Combinations of Immunotherapies or DNA Damage Repair Inhibitors in Platinum-Refractory Extensive-Stage Small Cell Lung Cancer: The Phase II BALTIC Study.Clinical cancer research : an official journal of the American Association for Cancer Research · 2024Trial
- Durvalumab ± Tremelimumab + Platinum-Etoposide in Extensive-Stage Small Cell Lung Cancer (CASPIAN): Outcomes by PD-L1 Expression and Tissue Tumor Mutational Burden.Clinical cancer research : an official journal of the American Association for Cancer Research · 2024Trial
- Small Cell Lung Cancer Classification: Unraveling Heterogeneity to Enable Personalized Treatments.Cancer research · 2026Review
- Prevalence of Histological Transformation in First-Line Osimertinib Non-Small Cell Lung Cancers: Case Series and Literature Review.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Review
- Baseline levels and dynamic changes of cfDNA, tumor fraction and mutations to anticipate the clinical course of small cell lung cancer (SCLC) patients treated with first-line atezolizumab and chemotherapy: an hypothesis generating study (CATS/ML43257).Journal of experimental & clinical cancer research : CR · 2025Article
- Utilizing ctDNA to discover mechanisms of resistance to targeted therapies in patients with metastatic NSCLC: towards more informative trials.Nature reviews. Clinical oncology · 2025Review
- Circulating biomarkers for diagnosis and response to therapies in cancer patients.International review of cell and molecular biology · 2025Review
- Histological transformation in lung adenocarcinoma: Insights of mechanisms and therapeutic windows.Journal of translational internal medicine · 2024Article
- Small cell lung cancer and neuroendocrine tumours.Breathe (Sheffield, England) · 2024Review
- Emerging advances in defining the molecular and therapeutic landscape of small-cell lung cancer.Nature reviews. Clinical oncology · 2024Review
- Tissue and circulating biomarkers of benefit to immunotherapy in extensive-stage small cell lung cancer patients.Frontiers in immunology · 2024Review
- Research progress of CTC, ctDNA, and EVs in cancer liquid biopsy.Frontiers in oncology · 2024Review
- Actionable Driver Events in Small Cell Lung Cancer.International journal of molecular sciences · 2023Review
- Plasticity of circulating tumor cells in small cell lung cancer.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- Review
- Liquid biopsy and non-small cell lung cancer: are we looking at the tip of the iceberg?British journal of cancer · 2022Review
- Histologic transformation in lung cancer: when one door shuts, another opens.Therapeutic advances in medical oncology · 2022Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
11 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe potential added value of liquid biopsy (LB) is not well determined in the case of small cell lung cancer (SCLC), an aggressive tumor that can occur either de novo or from the histologic transformation of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
methodsA systematic review of studies adopting LB in patients with SCLC have been performed to assess the clinical utility of circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) or circulating tumor cells (CTCs).
resultsAfter a screening of 728 records, 62 studies (32 evaluating CTCs, 27 ctDNA, and 3 both) met predetermined eligibility criteria. Only four studies evaluated LB in the diagnostic setting for SCLC, while its prognostic significance was evaluated in 38 studies and prominently supported by both ctDNA and CTCs. A meta-analysis of 11 studies as for CTCs enumeration showed an HR for overall survival of 2.63 (1.71-4.05), with a potential publication bias. The feasibility of tumor genomic profiling and the predictive role of LB in terms of response/resistance to chemotherapy was assessed in 11 and 24 studies, respectively, with greater consistency for those regarding ctDNA. Intriguingly, several case reports suggest that LB can indirectly capture the transition to SCLC in NSCLC treated with EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors.
conclusionsWhile dedicated trials are needed, LB holds potential clinical roles in both de novo and transformed SCLC. CtDNA analysis appears the most valuable and practicable tool for both disease monitoring and genomic profiling.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.