Fig. 1. Different types of NSCLC progression and associated markers. The left side of the figure shows the sites of metastases/relapses (red fields). Local recurrence means that cancer reappears in the same lung or at the bronchial stump. Regional recurrence is identified as a recurring disease in the ipsilateral hilar, mediastinal, and supraclavicular lymph nodes detected during follow-up after treatment. All other sites of recurrence outside the hemithorax or in the contralateral lung are referred to as distant recurrence or metastasis. The right side of the figure contains the markers associated with each type of NSCLC progression: clinicopathological parameters (yellow stripe), germline variations (green stripe), somatic alterations (blue stripe), gene and protein expression (violet stripe), miRNAs (orange stripe), long non-coding RNAs (pink stripe), and circulating molecules (red stripe). BCH, basal cell hyperplasia; BVI, blood vessel invasion; LUAD, lung adenocarcinoma; LUSC, lung squamous cell carcinoma; LVI, lymphovascular invasion; SM, squamous metaplasia; STAS, spread through air spaces; VPI, visceral pleural invasion.