Increased expression of N-myc in human small cell lung cancer biopsies predicts lack of response to chemotherapy and poor prognosis.
Amplified and increased expression of the myc family of protooncogenes (c- and N-myc) has been described to be associated with rapid proliferation in a number of cell lines, including small cell lung cancer (SCLC). In SCLC, c-myc was demonstrated to be amplified in a subset of SCLC cell lines denoted as variant type, which show a more aggressive way of growth in vitro. The N-myc oncogene, which has extensive homology in the second exon with c-myc, has been shown to be implicated in the oncogenesis of several primary tumors, including SCLC. The authors describe, using in situ hybridization, that increased expression of the N-myc oncogenes in primary biopsies from 15 untreated patients with SCLC are strongly associated with poor response to chemotherapy, rapid tumor growth, and short survival.
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001706:Biopsy; D018288:Carcinoma, Small Cell / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000235:genetics* / Q000401:mortality; D005260:Female; D005784:Gene Amplification; D006801:Humans; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000235:genetics* / Q000401:mortality; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis; D011519:Proto-Oncogenes