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Query: UMLS:C0242379 (lung cancer)
 71,905 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

There are several challenges in lung cytology including equivocal cytological findings, lung cancer subclassification, and predictive marker analysis. Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) detects chromosomal alterations that underlie the development and progression of cancer, and pinpoints targets of new anticancer drugs. Detection of such targets by FISH can be of diagnostic utility in morphologically difficult cases. Multitarget FISH with four different chromosomal probes improves the sensitivity of cytology in the diagnosis of lung cancer and clarifies equivocal cytological findings. FISH is becoming increasingly important in the field of predictive marker analysis. FISH is the gold standard to identify ALK rearrangements for treatment with the ALK inhibitor crizotinib (Xalkori). EGFR mutation analysis is the method of choice for selecting patients for therapy with EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs), whereas the EGFR gene copy number has not been confirmed as a reliable predictive marker. MET amplification is an important mechanism of secondary resistance to EGFR TKIs and a candidate predictive marker for targeted second-line treatment of TKI-resistant non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer. FGFR1 amplification is a promising new marker in squamous cell carcinoma that may predict the response to FGFR1 inhibitors. In conclusion, there are an increasing number of clinically relevant FISH applications in lung cytology. We provide an overview on the current role of FISH in respiratory cytology.
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PMID:Role of fluorescence in situ hybridization in lung cancer cytology. 2320 39

Chemotherapy has been the traditional backbone for the management of metastatic lung cancer. Multiple trials have shown the benefits of treatment with platinum doublets in lung cancer. This "one treatment fits all" approach was further refined by the introduction of targeted agents and discovery of subpopulations of patients who benefited from treatment with these agents. It has also become evident that certain histologic subtypes of non-small-cell lung cancer respond better to one cytotoxic chemotherapy versus others. This has led to the concept of using histology to guide therapy. With the introduction of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) tyrosine kinase inhibitors and the discovery of activating mutations in the EGFR gene, further personalization of treatment for subgroups of patients has become a reality. More recently, the presence of a fusion gene, echinoderm microtubule-associated protein-like 4 - anaplastic lymphoma kinase (EML4-ALK), was identified as the driver mutation in yet another subgroup of patients, and subsequent studies have led to approval of crizotinib in this group of patients. In this article, efforts in personalizing delivery of care based on the histological subtypes of lung cancer and the role of K-RAS and EGFR mutations, EML4/ALK translocation, and ERCC1 (excision repair cross-complementing 1) and EGFR expression in choosing appropriate treatments for patients with advanced lung cancer are discussed. This article also reviews the problem of resistance to EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors and the ongoing trials that target novel pathways and mechanisms that are implicated in resistance.
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PMID:Personalized medicine and treatment approaches in non-small-cell lung carcinoma. 2322 67

The biological and chronological evolution of lung cancer remain to be fully elucidated. A multi-step carcinogenesis hypothesis suggests a progression from atypical adenomatous hyperplasia (AAH) through bronchioalveolar carcinoma (BAC) to invasive adenocarcinoma (AC), but to date this has not been formally demonstrated. We report a case of a patient diagnosed by computed tomography (CT) with lung cancer in the superior right lobe who also presented with a pure ground-glass opacity (GGO) in the inferior lobe, while the middle lobe appeared normal. Following pneumonectomy, cytogenetic analysis successfully performed on spontaneous metaphases obtained by the direct method from samples of the three lung lobes showed the presence of three clonal cell populations, each progressively having increased karyotype complexity. Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), performed using ALK (2p23) break probe and ALK/EML4 t(2;2);inv(2) fusion probe, showed a normal pattern for all specimens. Histological evaluation confirmed the presence of AC in the superior right lobe and classified the GGO lesion as BAC and the normal tissue of the middle lobe as AAH. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first case in which the cytogenetic study of spontaneous metaphases showed a clear clonal relationship among AC, BAC and AAH present simultaneously in different lobes of the same lung. This case appears to indicate that the entire lung was somehow predisposed to a neoplastic transformation starting with a diffuse AAH characterized by high proliferative activity. Moreover, the 5q13 region involved in the translocation shared by BAC and AC contains at least 4 genes encoding important regulators of the cell cycle that may be considered new molecular markers of lung cancer.
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PMID:Cytogenetic findings in lung cancer that illuminate its biological history from adenomatous hyperplasia to bronchioalveolar carcinoma to adenocarcinoma: A case report. 2322 69

Lung cancer in the pregnant woman is a very rare and dramatic coincidence with poor prognosis. Treatment depends on the gestational week of the pregnancy, patient's medical status, social, personal, familial, and even religious beliefs. We present a case of adenocarcinoma of the lung in a 34-year-old pregnant patient whose initial complaints were cough, dyspnea, fever and fatigue. She was diagnosed with pneumonia at another hospital, and antibiotic therapy was administered. Meanwhile, at 28 weeks she delivered a preterm low-birth-weight baby. Chest X-ray and thorax CT revealed a mass lesion in the upper left lung lobe. After admission to our clinic, needle aspiration of left supraclavicular lymph node and bronchoscopic biopsy from upper lobe bronchus showed a non-small lung cancer; adenocarcinoma. Brain MRI was normal. PET CT revealed multiple bone metastases. Multidisciplinary Tumor Committee at our hospital referred her to the Oncology Department as an advanced stage IV disease. Chemotherapy was administered with paclitaxel and carboplatin for a total of 12 weeks. Reassessment of the patient revealed new bone metastases and crizotinib was administered since her tumor was found positive for EML4-ALK mutations. The treatment was well tolerated. During a follow up period of 6 months her clinical condition was stable and no adverse events were encountered.
Lung Cancer 2013 Mar
PMID:Lung cancer and pregnancy. 2325 66

Cancer is now known as a disease of genomic alterations. Mutational analysis and genomics profiling in recent years have advanced the field of lung cancer genetics/genomics significantly. It is becoming more accepted now that the identification of genomic alterations in lung cancer can impact therapeutics, especially when the alterations represent "oncogenic drivers" in the processes of tumorigenesis and progression. In this review, we will highlight the key driver oncogenic gene mutations and fusions identified in lung cancer. The review will summarize and report the available demographic and clinicopathological data as well as molecular details behind various lung cancer gene alterations in the context of race. We hope to shed some light into the disparities in the incidence of various genetic mutations among lung cancer patients of different racial backgrounds. As molecularly targeted therapy continues to advance in lung cancer, racial differences in specific genetic/genomic alterations can have an important impact in the choices of therapeutics and in our understanding of the drug sensitivity/resistance profile. The most relevant genes in lung cancer described in this review include the following: EGFR, KRAS, MET, LKB1, BRAF, PIK3CA, ALK, RET, and ROS1. Commonly identified genetic/genomic alterations such as missense or nonsense mutations, small insertions or deletions, alternative splicing, and chromosomal fusion rearrangements were discussed. Relevance in current targeted therapeutic drugs was mentioned when appropriate. We also highlighted various targeted therapeutics that are currently under clinical development, such as the MET inhibitors and antibodies. With the advent of next-generation sequencing, the landscape of genomic alterations in lung cancer is expected to be much transformed and detailed in upcoming years. These genomic landscape differences in the context of racial disparities should be emphasized both in tumorigenesis and in drug sensitivity/resistance. It is hoped that such effort will help to diminish racial disparities in lung cancer outcome in the future.
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PMID:Cancer genes in lung cancer: racial disparities: are there any? 2326 47

It is often difficult to differentiate metachronous primary lung cancers from local pulmonary recurrences when the histopathological findings are similar. A 43-year-old man underwent right upper lobectomy with lymph node dissection for primary lung adenocarcinoma (p-T2aN0M0, stage IB). Fifteen years later, he developed a lung nodule in his right middle lobe. The tumor was preoperatively thought to be a metachronous second primary lung adenocarcinoma, and was surgically resected. Histopathological findings for both tumors were of poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma with mucus production. Both tumors also harbored the EML4 (echinoderm microtubule-associated protein-like 4)-ALK (anaplastic lymphoma kinase) fusion gene (variant 3a+b). Based on this molecular finding, the pulmonary nodule was considered to be a recurrence after very long latent period.
Lung Cancer 2013 Apr
PMID:Solitary pulmonary metastasis from lung cancer harboring EML4-ALK after a 15-year disease-free interval. 2327 72

Targeted therapy currently represents one of possible treatment strategies for lung cancer. High efficacy is achieved by specific inhibition of the target which is abnormally activated in a tumor cell and plays a key role in oncogenesis. EML4-ALK fusion gene, first described five years ago in patients with lung adenocarcinoma, undoubtedly has oncogenic potential and represents a promising candidate for targeted therapy. EML4-ALK fusion occurs due to paracentric inversion in the short arm of chromosome 2 and is detected in 3-5% of patients with non-small cell lung cancer. Moreover, additional fusion partners of ALK gene have been identified: TGF, KIF5B and KLC1. Targeted inhibition of constitutively activated ALK kinase mediated by crizotinib in patients positive for ALK gene rearrangements resulted in remarkable treatment response (57%) with minimal toxicity. Nevertheless, loss of response during crizotinib treatment was reported recently due to development of two resistant mutations (C1156Y and L1196M) within the kinase domain of the fusion protein. Therefore, novel, highly specific inhibitors able to overcome resistance of mutated EML4-ALK are needed. Molecular diagnostics plays an essential role in selection of suitable patients for targeted therapy and offers various methods for detection of ALK gene rearrangements. Identification of tumor-associated genetic changes together with development of novel molecular inhibitors shifts the treatment of oncologic patients towards individualized therapy.
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PMID:[EML4-ALK fusion gene in patients with lung carcinoma: biology, diagnostics and targeted therapy]. 2330 45

Treatment decisions for patients with lung cancer have historically been based upon tumor morphological analysis. Over the past decade, some molecular alterations have been identified as being necessary and sufficient to drive tumor carcinogenesis. These "driver" mutations occur in genes that encode signaling proteins critical for cellular proliferation and survival. Epidermal growth factor (EGF) receptor (EGFR) mutations are the best illustration of the therapeutic relevance of identifying such molecular clusters of lung cancer based on driver genetic alterations that predict the efficacy of specific tyrosine kinase inhibitors, a strategy referred to as "personalized medicine." Besides EGFR and ALK, other genes harboring driver molecular alterations have been identified as part of integrated genomic studies of lung cancers. The objectives of this review are (1) to provide the reader with preclinical and clinical data on these new oncogenic mutations, focusing on druggable ones; (2) to discuss the dynamic nature of lung cancer molecular features in the context of acquired resistance to specific inhibitors; and (3) to highlight emerging data on other cancer hallmarks that may be of interest from a therapeutic perspective in the next future. From bench to bedside, personalized medicine represents a major revolution in the treatment of lung cancer.
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PMID:Other signalization targets. 2330 86

Lung cancer is the most common cause of cancer deaths. Most patients present with advanced-stage disease, and the prognosis is generally poor. However, with the understanding of lung cancer biology, and development of molecular targeted agents, there have been improvements in treatment outcomes for selected subsets of patients with non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) have demonstrated significantly improved tumor responses and progression-free survival in subsets of patients with advanced NSCLC, particularly those with tumors harboring activating EGFR mutations. Testing for EGFR mutations is a standard procedure for identification of patients who will benefit from first-line EGFR TKIs. For patients with advanced NSCLC and no activating EGFR mutations (EGFR wild-type) or no other driving oncogenes such as ALK-gene rearrangement, chemotherapy is still the standard of care. A new generation of EGFR TKIs, targeting multiple receptors and with irreversible bindings to the receptors, are in clinical trials and have shown encouraging effects. Research on primary and acquired resistant mechanisms to EGFR TKIs are ongoing. Monoclonal antibodies (e.g. cetuximab), in combination with chemotherapy, have demonstrated improved outcomes, particularly for subsets of NSCLC patients, but further validations are needed. Novel monoclonal antibodies are combined with chemotherapy, and randomized comparative studies are ongoing. This review summarizes the current status of EGFR inhibitors in NSCLC in 2012 and some of the major challenges we are facing.
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PMID:Epidermal growth factor receptor inhibition in lung cancer: status 2012. 2337 Mar 15

Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) has recently been associated with interesting molecular characteristics that have important implications in carcinogenesis and response to targeted therapies. Targeted therapies, if given to a patient subpopulation enriched by the presence of relevant molecular targets, can often abrogate cell signaling that perpetuates cancer progression. For instance, several molecular alterations have been defined as "driver mutations," such as mutations in EGFR and EML4-ALK fusion gene. Other key signaling pathways have also been identified as novel targets for lung cancer treatment. These first steps towards personalized medicine represent a shift in the management of NSCLC. Indeed, NSCLC should no longer be viewed as one common generic tumor but rather as a collection of more rare diseases with different biological behaviors and different sensitivities to targeted treatments. We are now clearly entering an era of personalized medicine for NSCLC cancers, and the development of molecular profiling technologies to assess DNA provides the potential to tailored medical care.
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PMID:Identification of driver mutations in lung cancer: first step in personalized cancer. 2337 Oct 30


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