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Lung cancer biobanking in Australia: challenges and future directions

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: PerspectiveLung cancer biobanking in Australia: challenges and future directions L ung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related morbidity and mortality worldwide.1 It is the fifth most common cancer diagnosed in Australia, but accounts for almost 20% of all cancerrelated deaths, which is more than breast, prostate and ovarian cancer combined.Global advances in lung cancer management have been driven by early diagnosis, such as lung cancer screening, improved treatment options (targeted therapy and immunotherapy) and improvements in survivorship care.Despite this progress, the five-year survival rate for lung cancer in Australia is 24%. 2 Reasons for this poor outlook include late presentation with most lung cancer patients presenting with metastatic disease at the time of diagnosis, as well as tumour-specific features including a lack of reliable biomarkers, tumour heterogeneity and drug resistance.3 Lung cancer biobanks facilitate translational research aimed at improving lung cancer diagnosis, prognosis and treatment in several ways.4 These repositories collect and store high quality biological samples, such as tissue and blood, as well as detailed clinical information from patients across various stages of disease.This enables researchers to identify and validate predictive and prognostic biomarkers, discover molecular signatures associated with tumour progression and treatment resistance, and develop novel therapies and strategies to overcome resistance.5 This perspective article provides a background on cancer biobanks, outlines the challenges specific to lung cancer biobanks in the Australian context, and discusses future directions.

Source: The Medical Journal of Australia

DOI: 10.5694/mja2.70012