Large lung cancer study shows potential for more targeted therapies

A nationwide consortium of scientists has reported the first comprehensive genetic analysis of squamous cell carcinoma of the lung, a common type of lung cancer responsible for about 400,000 deaths each year.

"We found that almost 75 percent of the patients' cancers have mutations that can be targeted with existing drugs - drugs that are available commercially or for clinical trials," says one of the lead investigators, Ramaswamy Govindan, MD, an oncologist at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and co-chair of the lung cancer group of The Cancer Genome Atlas.

The Cancer Genome Atlas project combines efforts of the nation's leading genetic sequencing centers, including The Genome Institute at Washington University, to describe the genetics of common tumors with the goal of improving prevention, detection and treatment. The Cancer Genome Atlas is supported by the National Cancer Institute and the National Human Genome Research Institute, both parts of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

The other lung cancer co-chairs are the study's senior author Matthew Meyerson, MD, PhD, of the Broad Institute of Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University, and Stephen Baylin, MD, of Johns Hopkins University.

The study examined the tumors and normal tissue of 178 patients with lung squamous cell carcinoma. The investigators found recurring mutations common to many patients in 18 genes. And almost all of the tumors showed mutations in a gene called TP53, known for its role in repairing damaged DNA.

Interestingly, the researchers noted that lung squamous cell carcinoma shares many mutations with head and neck squamous cell carcinomas, supporting the emerging body of evidence that cancers may be more appropriately classified by their genetics rather than the primary organ they affect.

"We clearly see mutations in lung cancer that we see in other human cancers," says Richard K. Wilson, PhD, director of The Genome Institute at Washington University. "This reinforces something that we've been seeing in a lot of our cancer genomics work. It's really less about what type of tissue the tumor arises in - lung, breast, skin, prostate - and more about what genes and pathways are affected."

Current treatment for squamous cell lung cancers includes chemotherapy and radiation, but there are no drugs specifically designed to target this particular type of lung cancer. Squamous cell lung cancer is linked to smoking and responsible for 30 percent of all lung cancer cases.

"With this analysis, we are just starting to understand the molecular biology of lung squamous cell carcinoma," says Govindan, who treats patients at Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University. "And now we have identified potential targets for therapies to study in future clinical trials."

The Cancer Genome Atlas Research Network. Comprehensive genomic characterization of squamous cell lung cancers. Nature. Sept. 9, 2012

Washington University School of Medicine's 2,100 employed and volunteer faculty physicians also are the medical staff of Barnes-Jewish and St. Louis Children's hospitals. The School of Medicine is one of the leading medical research, teaching and patient care institutions in the nation, currently ranked sixth in the nation by U.S. News & World Report. Through its affiliations with Barnes-Jewish and St. Louis Children's hospitals, the School of Medicine is linked to BJC HealthCare.

Most Popular Now

Pfizer receives positive FDA Advisory Committee vo…

Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRBPAC) voted that avail...

Engineered bacteria find tumors, then alert the au…

Combining discoveries in cancer immunology with sophisticated genetic engineering, Columbia University researchers have created a sort of "bacterial suicide squad" that ...

First nasal monoclonal antibody treatment for COVI…

A pilot trial by investigators from Brigham and Women's Hospital, a founding member of the Mass General Brigham healthcare system, tested the nasal administration of the ...

US FDA Advisory Committee votes to support effecti…

GSK plc (LSE/NYSE: GSK) announced that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRBPAC) voted that the avail...

"Semantic similarity" leads to novel dru…

The words that researchers use to describe their results can be harnessed to discover potential new treatments for Parkinson's disease, according to a new study published...

Tumour cells' response to chemotherapy is driven b…

Cancer cells have an innate randomness in their ability to respond to chemotherapy, which is another tool in their arsenal of resisting treatment, new research led by the...

Pfizer's ZAVZPRET™ (zavegepant) migraine nasal spr…

Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) today announced the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved ZAVZPRET™ (zavegepant), the first and only calcitonin gene-related peptid...

Nanosatellite shows the way to RNA medicine of the…

The RNA molecule is commonly recognized as messenger between DNA and protein, but it can also be folded into intricate molecular machines. An example of a naturally occur...

Gene and cell therapies to combat pancreatic cance…

Pancreatic cancer is an incurable form of cancer, and gene therapies are currently in clinical testing to treat this deadly disease. A comprehensive review of the gene an...

Pfizer invests $43 billion to battle cancer

Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) and Seagen Inc. (Nasdaq: SGEN) today announced that they have entered into a definitive merger agreement under which Pfizer will acquire Seagen, a...

Scientists reveal a potential new approach to trea…

Scientists at the National Institutes of Health and Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston have uncovered a potential new approach against liver cancer that could lead ...

Digital twin opens way to effective treatment of i…

Inflammatory diseases like rheumatoid arthritis have complex disease mechanisms that can differ from patient to patient with the same diagnosis. This means that currently...