LALUCA

LALUCA is dedicated to revolutionizing lung cancer research and patient care. Our mission is to systematically evaluate and enhance the quality of lung cancer treatment by leveraging comprehensive data analysis and fostering strong collaborations among leading medical institutions.

Lung cancer is one of the most common cancers in Austria. Diagnosis and staging is complex and requires collaboration by various disciplines. Depending on the stage and the performance status of the patient surgery, radiotherapy and/or systemic anti-cancer treatment including genome-driven therapy, immunotherapy and chemotherapy, as well as combinations of the above are used to treat lung cancer.
The identification of driver-mutations, whose gene product can be specifically inhibited by targeted therapies, has markedly changed the diagnostic and therapeutic landscape for this tumor entity, leading to improved outcomes for patients with metastatic NSCLC. The use of next generation sequencing (NGS) allows for detection of a multitude of different drugable mutations. In absence of a curative treatment approach and a drugable mutation the prognosis of lung cancer remains poor.
Although lung cancer is a common and serious disease, few data are available regarding lung cancer diagnosis and management in routine clinical practice.

Thorough knowledge of the treatment reality, e.g. characteristics, diagnostic, treatment and outcome of unselected patients in real-Iife practice, is crucial to evaluate and improve the quality of care for patients with lung cancer.
The purpose of this project is to set up a clinical platfom to document representative data on molecular testing, sequence of systemic treatment and other treatment modalities, and course of disease in patients with lung cancer. A particular focus is on molecular biomarker testing and NGS of patients before the start of first-line treatment. The data shall be used to assess the current state of care and to develop recommendations concerning topics that can be improved.