Fawzi F Abu Rous, MD, is a thoracic medical oncologist at Henry Ford Health.

Dr Abu Rous on the Timing of HER2 and MET Testing in NSCLC

"This is an evolving matter, especially after the two approvals that we recently got for patients with HER2 and MET overexpression. This is not a mutational testing, it's IHC testing, which is not done routinely for non small cell lung cancer. In my practice, I'm trying to test at progression."

Fawzi F Abu Rous, MD, a thoradic medical oncologist at Henry Ford Health, discussed evolving strategies for HER2 and MET testing in non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in light of recent therapeutic approvals targeting these biomarkers.

He explained that current testing is performed using immunohistochemistry (IHC), rather than mutational analysis. Unlike more established biomarker assays in NSCLC, HER2 and MET IHC testing is not conducted routinely and may not be available through all laboratories, requiring clinicians to specifically request it. As a result, adoption into standard practice has been gradual.

The timing of testing remains an area of debate, with some clinicians testing at baseline and others incorporating testing later in the disease course, Abu Rous explained. In his own practice, he has adopted testing at the time of progression, particularly since there are limited data on whether HER2 or MET expression differs before and after immunotherapy. He emphasized that NSCLC is a heterogeneous disease, with tumor biology evolving over time, which supports reassessment of biomarker expression at key clinical decision points.

He further observed that in some patients, HER2 and MET expression patterns can change, while in others, expression remains stable. These observations underscore the need for additional research to define optimal testing strategies and to better understand the dynamics of biomarker expression in NSCLC.

As therapies targeting HER2 and MET become more widely integrated into treatment paradigms, refining the timing and consistency of testing will be essential to ensure appropriate patient selection and maximize therapeutic benefit, Abu Rous concluded.

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Fawzi F Abu Rous, MD, discusses evolving strategies for HER2 and MET testing in non–small cell lung cancer.
 

Dr Abu Rous on the Identification of Clinically Actionable Biomarkers in Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Lung

"We found an area in the long arm of chromosome 3 that was able to predict outcomes and even mediate responses to immunotherapy [in squamous cell carcinoma]. We’re still working on this project, but it looks very promising."

Fawzi F Abu Rous, MD, a thoracic medical oncologist at Henry Ford Health, discusses ongoing research addressing the need for biomarkers with potential clinical activity in squamous cell carcinoma of the lung.

One ongoing area of unmet need in the treatment of patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the lung is the development of reliable predictive biomarkers, Abu Rous began. Currently, PD-L1 expression and, to a lesser extent, tumor mutational burden (TMB) represent the most commonly used biomarkers in clinical practice, Abu Rous stated. However, both these biomarkers have limited predictive accuracy in squamous cell carcinoma, he noted. As a result, oncologists often lack precise tools to identify patients most likely to benefit from specific therapeutic approaches, such as immune checkpoint inhibitors, Abu Rous explained.

To address this gap, Abu Rous and colleagues have conducted genomic analyses of squamous cell carcinoma tumor DNA. One such effort focused on the long arm of chromosome 3 (3q), a region frequently amplified in squamous cell carcinoma of the lung, Abu Rous detailed. During his fellowship, Abu Rous and the research team conducted a genomic study in collaboration with bioinformaticians and molecular scientists to identify alterations in 3q that could serve as predictive biomarkers. Preliminary findings suggest that specific amplifications within this chromosomal region may correlate with both treatment response and survival outcomes in patients receiving immunotherapy, he shared.

Although this research remains ongoing, early results indicate that 3q amplification could represent a promising biomarker with potential clinical utility in squamous cell carcinoma, Abu Rous asserted. If validated, such a marker may enable better stratification of patients, guiding treatment intensification or de-escalation based on predicted benefit from immunotherapeutic strategies, he concluded.

Fawzi F Abu Rous, MD, discusses the need for reliable predictive biomarkers for therapeutic development in squamous cell carcinoma of the lung.
 

Fawzi F Abu Rous, MD

Articles

Dr Abu Rous on the Timing of HER2 and MET Testing in NSCLC

Dr Abu Rous on the Identification of Clinically Actionable Biomarkers in Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Lung