In Brief

From OncoLog, January 2008, Vol. 53, No. 1

In Brief

Newly Identified Gene May Stop Development of Lung Cancers

Researchers at M. D. Anderson have identified a new tumor-suppressor gene for lung cancer in mice, and their findings suggest the gene, GPRC5A, may suppress lung cancer development in humans as well. The findings were reported in the Nov. 21, 2007, edition of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

Reuben Lotan, Ph.D., professor in the Department of Thoracic/Head and Neck Medical Oncology, and colleagues previously demonstrated that the GPRC5A transcript is detected in healthy lung tissue more frequently than in other tissue but that it is underexpressed in non-small cell lung cancer and in head and neck squamous cell carcinomas in humans. These findings suggest that, when present, the gene plays a role in suppressing the development of cancer.

The recent study found that, in mice, deletion of the GPRC5A gene was associated with the development of more precancerous lung lesions and with a more frequent progression of these lesions to malignancy. In mice without the GPRC5A gene, lung adenomas developed during the second year of life in 76%, and adenocarcinomas developed in 17%. In comparison, only 10% of mice with the activated gene developed adenomas, and none in this group developed lung cancer.

“To our knowledge, this is the first mouse model in which the deletion of a single gene expressed in the lungs leads to lung cancer development,” said Dr. Lotan. “We think the findings may extend to human lung cancers as well, based on our comparative analysis of paired human normal and malignant lung tissues.”

In addition, the researchers inserted the GPRC5A gene into human lung cancer cell lines in the laboratory and found that the gene suppressed formation of cancer cell colonies by 91%. “Further study substantiating the gene’s role in humans could lead to the development of new approaches to prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of lung cancer,” Dr. Lotan said.

For more information on this topic or for questions about M. D. Anderson’s treatments, programs, or services, call askMDAnderson at (877) MDA-6789.

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