{"id":54582,"date":"2025-11-10T12:04:16","date_gmt":"2025-11-10T11:04:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dzl.de\/?p=54582"},"modified":"2025-11-10T12:07:54","modified_gmt":"2025-11-10T11:07:54","slug":"online-tool-enhances-diagnostic-precision-in-lung-cancer-with-multiple-tumors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dzl.de\/en\/news\/online-tool-enhances-diagnostic-precision-in-lung-cancer-with-multiple-tumors\/","title":{"rendered":"Online tool enhances diagnostic precision in lung cancer with multiple tumors"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Researchers at the Heidelberg site of the German Center for Lung Research (DZL), together with an international team, have shown that the test strategy recommended by the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) for determining the clonal relationship of multiple lung tumors can be reliably implemented in clinical routine\u2014even when only molecular tests based on small-scale gene panels are available. By combining the IASLC approach with a newly developed bioinformatic method, the accuracy of distinguishing between separate primary lung tumors and intrapulmonary metastases was significantly improved. To assist medical and molecular pathology teams worldwide, the team has made the tool freely available online: www.hd-\u200bmolpath.de\/clonality-\u200bchecker<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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For lung cancer patients with multiple tumors, a crucial question is whether these represent separate primary tumors or metastases of an existing tumor. Modern sequencing methods, which are often carried out routinely in the context of finding a suitable therapy, provide a genetic fingerprint of the tumor that can be used to compare tumors. The answer has a direct impact on disease staging and the choice of therapy. Classical histological methods remain valuable, but often reach their limits, especially with small biopsy samples. To address this, the IASLC recently recommended an algorithm that combines pathological assessment with targeted molecular testing. The pathologists, physicians, and scientists led by Professor Stenzinger and Dr. Kirchner wanted to determine whether this approach also works reliably under routine conditions\u2014i.e., with only small tissue samples and limited sequencing panels available.<\/p>\n

In one of the largest real-world studies to date, the Heidelberg team analyzed 240 tumor samples from 120 patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The cohort included patients with and without lymph node or distant metastases, different histological subtypes, and preserved (FFPE) tissue\u2014 i.e. typical conditions in clinical practice. Most samples were examined using panels of only 31\u201354 genes\u2014the standard in many European clinics. Larger panels with more than 500 genes were usually only used when the initial diagnosis did not provide a clear answer.<\/p>\n

The team developed a new bioinformatic tool that takes into account how common or rare specific genetic mutations are. This allows for a more reliable classification of clonality. The basis for this was the mutation frequency in an independent NSCLC reference cohort of 3,477 samples. With the new tool, the proportion of unclear results dropped to just 2%, even when using small panels. \u201cPrecisely distinguishing whether multiple lung tumors are related or have developed independently is critical for treatment planning. This question is often raised in clinical diagnostics,\u201d says Dr. Michael Allg\u00e4uer, first author of the study. \u201cOur results show that even with the limited panels available in many clinics today, reliable answers are possible \u2014especially with the support of our freely accessible bioinformatic tool,\u201d adds Dr. Martina Kirchner, who reanalyzed the extensive genetic data. Importantly: \u00a0patients who were classified as carriers of separate primary tumors survived significantly longer than those with metastatic disease \u2014 clear evidence of the clinical relevance of accurate classification.<\/p>\n

The freely available\u00a0Clonality Checker<\/em> from Heidelberg combines the IASLC approach with the new bioinformatic method. This provides clinics and pathology departments worldwide with an easily accessible, evidence-based tool to improve diagnostic accuracy\u2014even in settings with limited sequencing capacity. This work was made possible through close collaboration within an interdisciplinary team of pathologists and scientists from Heidelberg University Hospital and physicians from the Thoraxklinik Heidelberg, in cooperation with experts from Portugal, France, Switzerland, and the Netherlands. The study was published in the renowned\u00a0Journal of Thoracic Oncology<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Original Publication:\u00a0 <\/strong>Allg\u00e4uer M, Kluck K, Christopoulos P, Ball M, Volckmar A-L, Radonic T, Bubendorf L, Hofmann P, Heu\u00dfel CP, Winter H, Herth F, Thomas M, Ylstra B, Peters S, Schirmacher P, Kazdal, D, Budczies J, Stenzinger A, Kirchner M.\u00a0Ad\u00advan\u00adcing Lung Can\u00adcer Sta\u00adging: In\u00adteg\u00adrat\u00ading IASLC Re\u00adcom\u00admend\u00ada\u00adtions and Bioin\u00adform\u00adat\u00adics to De\u00adlin\u00adeate Tumor Ori\u00adgins. Journal of Thoracic On\u00adco\u00adlogy,<\/a>\u00a0Open Access, Article in Press, October 23. DOI: 10.1016\/j.jtho.2025.10.010.<\/p>\n

Source:<\/strong> Bioinformatics online tool improves accuracy in staging of multiple lung tumors - TLRC Heidelberg<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A new bioinformatic tool combines the IASLC algorithm with genetic data analysis to more reliably distinguish primary lung tumors from metastases, supporting more accurate staging and treatment decisions in clinical practice.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":26,"featured_media":54579,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[246],"class_list":["post-54582","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-lung-cancer-lc"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dzl.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54582","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dzl.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dzl.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dzl.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/26"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dzl.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54582"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dzl.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54582\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":54585,"href":"https:\/\/dzl.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54582\/revisions\/54585"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dzl.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/54579"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dzl.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54582"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dzl.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54582"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dzl.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54582"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}