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Gene expression in adjacent airways may help detect early lung cancer
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Gene features expressed in the airways adjacent to tumors, including higher levels of LAPTM4B, differentiated patients with non–small cell lung cancer from smokers without lung cancer, according to study results.
“We believe this study has a ‘double whammy’ application,” researcher Humam Kadara, PhD, assistant professor of translational molecular pathology at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, said in a press release. “These cancer-associated changes that distinguish the airways of smokers with lung cancer and healthy smokers may help us diagnose lung cancer earlier and develop more effective strategies for treatment.”
Humam Kadara
Kadara and colleagues evaluated 194 samples from 20 patients with stage I to IIIA NSCLC, 15 of whom were smokers.
The investigators identified 1,661 gene features that were differentially expressed in patients with NSCLC compared with normal lung tissues of smokers. The difference reached statistical significance for 299 of these genes (P˂.001).
The expression of 422 genes was significantly associated with distance from tumors, and thus progressively expressed in airways of patients with NSCLC.
LAPTM4B — which promoted anchorage-dependent and –independent lung cancer cell growth, and which is associated with resistance to certain chemotherapies — was expressed significantly more in airways closer to tumors (P˂.05). Researchers noted LAPTM4B was upregulated in human immortalized cells compared with normal bronchial epithelial cells (P˂.001).
“This is the first time the role of this gene in lung cancer has been studied,” Kadara said. “It was highly over-expressed in adjacent normal cells, indicating the possibility of future detection and treatment strategies. We're just beginning to understand the relevance of airway field cancerization to lung cancer detection and development of treatment and prevention strategies.”
Disclosure: See the study for a full list of the researchers’ relevant financial disclosures.
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