CRISPR-BASED APPROACHES FOR THE DETECTION AND TARGETING OF LUNG CANCER BIOMARKERS: A NEW ERA IN PRECISION ONCOLOGY

Background: Accurate and early identification of lung cancer biomarkers is crucial for effective management yet remains a clinical challenge. CRISPR-based technologies provide highly sensitive and specific tools that can be adapted for both diagnostic and therapeutic use in oncology. Methods: A prospective study was conducted including 120 patients with confirmed lung cancer and 60 healthy individuals as controls at a tertiary care center. A CRISPR-Cas12a diagnostic platform was developed to detect EGFR exon 19 deletions, KRAS G12C mutations, and ALK rearrangements in tumor tissue and plasma samples. In parallel, CRISPR-Cas9 editing was applied to patient-derived lung cancer cell cultures to selectively disrupt EGFR mutant alleles. The diagnostic performance of the CRISPR assay was compared against conventional PCR and next-generation sequencing (NGS). Results: The CRISPR-Cas12a assay successfully detected as few as 10 DNA copies/µL within one hour. In tissue samples, the assay achieved 96.7% sensitivity and 98.3% specificity relative to NGS. In circulating tumor DNA extracted from plasma, sensitivity reached 92.1%. Functional assays demonstrated that CRISPR-Cas9-mediated disruption of EGFR mutations reduced cell viability by approximately 65% and suppressed downstream oncogenic signaling pathways. Conclusion: CRISPR-based strategies demonstrate considerable promise for both precise detection and targeted intervention in lung cancer. The integration of CRISPR diagnostics with gene-editing applications could significantly advance precision oncology by enabling earlier diagnosis and patient-tailored therapeutic options.