Scientists at Weill Cornell Medical College in the US have discovered that lung tumors called adenocarcinomas sometimes respond to initially effective treatment by turning into much more aggressive small cell lung cancer. results published In Science magazine.
The process of transformation of lung adenocarcinoma into aggressive small cell carcinoma is called histological transformation. In their studies, scientists focused on identifying the mechanisms underlying this process. To do this, they conducted a series of experiments on laboratory mice with lung cancer.
Scientists announced that aggressive small cell lung cancer is most common in heavy smokers. However, a significant number of patients with lung adenocarcinoma also develop it, often following treatment with drugs that target a protein called epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR). This protein promotes the growth of tumors. Small cell lung cancer is known to be resistant to treatment with EGFR blockers.
The results of experiments on mice showed that this transformation was associated with the epithelial cells lining the air sacs of the lungs. Scientists found that this cell type is not resistant to turning into cancer when exposed to the EGFR oncogene. An oncogene is a gene whose expression product can stimulate the formation of a malignant tumor.
Activation of EGFR and another oncogene, Myc, have been associated with cancer transformation of epithelial and neuroendocrine cells, respectively. However, EGFR did not affect the change in the type of neuroendocrine cells and Myc did not affect the change in epithelial cells.
Scientists suggested that the oncogene in the wrong cell type “does not behave like an oncogene.” They emphasized the need to develop new drugs aimed at suppressing the activity of specific oncogenes.
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