Lunx is a superior molecular marker for detection of non-small cell lung cancer in peripheral blood [corrected].
The clinical management of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) would benefit greatly by a test that was able to detect small amounts of NSCLC in the peripheral blood. In this report, we used a novel strategy to enrich tumor cells from the peripheral blood of 24 stage I to IV NSCLC patients and determined expression levels for six cancer-associated genes (lunx, muc1, KS1/4, CEA, CK19, and PSE). Using thresholds established at three standard deviations above the mean observed in 15 normal controls, we observed that lunx (10 of 24, 42%), muc1 (5 of 24, 21%), and CK19 (5 of 24, 21%) were overexpressed in 14 of 24 (58%) peripheral blood samples obtained from NSCLC patients. Patients who overexpressed either KS1/4 (n = 2) or PSE (n = 1) also overexpressed either lunx or muc1. Of patients with presumed curable and resectable stage I to II disease (n = 7), at least one marker was overexpressed in three (43%) patients. In advanced stage III to IV patients (n = 17), at least one marker was overexpressed in 11 patients (65%). These results provide evidence that circulating tumor cells can be detected in NSCLC patients by a high throughput molecular technique. Further studies are needed to determine the clinical relevance of gene overexpression.
Departments of Surgery, Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina 29425, USA. mitasm@musc.edu
Michael
M
Mitas
Loretta
L
Hoover
Gerard
G
Silvestri
Carolyn
C
Reed
Mark
M
Green
Andrew T
AT
Turrisi
Carol
C
Sherman
Kaidi
K
Mikhitarian
David J
DJ
Cole
Mark I
MI
Block
William E
WE
Gillanders
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000097:blood* / Q000235:genetics*; D002289:Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung / Q000097:blood* / Q000235:genetics*; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D006023:Glycoproteins; D006801:Humans; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000097:blood* / Q000235:genetics*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D010750:Phosphoproteins; D011506:Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
C485599:BPIFA1 protein, human; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D006023:Glycoproteins; D010750:Phosphoproteins; D011506:Proteins