Patients younger than 50 diagnosed with non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) had a higher likelihood of having a targetable genomic alteration for which therapies exist, according to an article published online by JAMA Oncology.
NSCLC in young patients is rare and the clinical characteristics of the disease are poorly understood. A definition for young age describing this unique population has not been established.
Among 1,325 patients tested for all five targetable genomic alterations, younger age was associated with an increased likelihood of a targetable genotype. Patients diagnosed younger than 50 had a 59% increased chance of detecting a targetable alteration compared with an older patient, according to the results.
