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Identification of Gene Signatures and Molecular Markers for Human Lung Cancer Prognosis using an In vitro Lung Carcinogenesis System

Authors' Affiliations: ¹ Departments of Thoracic/Head and Neck Medical Oncology, ² Pathology, and ³ Biostatistics, University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas

Requests for reprints: Reuben Lotan, M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, 1515 Holcombe Boulevard, Houston, TX 77030. Phone: 713-792-8467; Fax: 713-796-8655; E-mail: rlotan{at}mdanderson.org.

Lung cancer continues to be a major deadly malignancy. The mortality of this disease could be reduced by improving the ability to predict cancer patients' survival. We hypothesized that genes differentially expressed among cells constituting an in vitro human lung carcinogenesis model consisting of normal, immortalized, transformed, and tumorigenic bronchial epithelial cells are relevant to the clinical outcome of non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Multidimensional scaling, microarray, and functional pathways analyses of the transcriptomes of the above cells were done and combined with integrative genomics to incorporate the microarray data with published NSCLC data sets. Up-regulated (n = 301) and down-regulated genes (n = 358) displayed expression level variation across the in vitro model with progressive changes in cancer-related molecular functions. A subset of these genes (n = 584) separated lung adenocarcinoma clinical samples (n = 361) into two clusters with significant survival differences. Six genes, UBE2C, TPX2, MCM2, MCM6, FEN1, and SFN, selected by functional array analysis, were also effective in prognosis. The mRNA and protein levels of one these genes—UBE2C—were significantly up-regulated in NSCLC tissue relative to normal lung and increased progressively in lung lesions. Moreover, stage I NSCLC patients with positive UBE2C expression exhibited significantly poorer overall and progression-free survival than patients with negative expression. Our studies with this in vitro model have lead to the identification of a robust six-gene signature, which may be valuable for predicting the survival of lung adenocarcinoma patients. Moreover, one of those genes, UBE2C, seems to be a powerful biomarker for NSCLC survival prediction.

Key Words: lung cancer • NSCLC • gene expression • UBE2C • prognosis • in vitro lung carcinogenesis

Commentary

Profiles in Variation: Lung Carcinogenesis

David P. Carbone
Cancer Prevention Research 2009 2: 695-697. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

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				D. P. Carbone Profiles in Variation: Lung Carcinogenesis Cancer Prevention Research, August 1, 2009; 2(8): 695 - 697. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]