Molecular Biology of Lung Cancer and Future Perspectives for Screening

Abstract

Lung cancer patients have the highest mortality among patients with solid tumors worldwide and their prognosis is strictly stage-associated. However, only 15-20% of patients are diagnosed in stage I, since these early tumors are frequently asymptomatic. Early detection of lung cancer, which allows effective therapeutic intervention, is a promising approach to lowering its mortality rate. However, conventional diagnostic methods for lung cancer, such as chest X-ray and CT of the chest, produce high costs and potentially false-positive results. Thus, the discovery of highly sensitive, specific, noninvasive, and cost-effective lung cancer biomarkers combined with conventional approaches, such as X-rays, may improve the sensitivity of lung cancer screening. Herein, we summarize the most recent studies about the molecular pathology of lung cancer and discuss the advancements expected in the near future, including the potential biomarkers and liquid biopsy approaches for the detection of lung cancer in populations at risk of developing this disease.

High Aldehyde Dehydrogenase Levels Are Detectable in the Serum of Patients with Lung Cancer and May Be Exploited as Screening Biomarkers

“…Nevertheless, conventional methods for the diagnosis of NSCLC have high costs and produce potentially false-positive outcomes. Thus, the discovery of highly sensitive, specific, noninvasive, and cost-effective lung cancer biomarkers to use in association with conventional approaches may increase the sensitivity of NSCLC screening [4, 6, 45–47].…”

“…The standard of care for functionally operable early-stage and resectable stage IIIA NSCLC is surgery which possesses a potential for cure. Nevertheless, only 20% of NSCLC are diagnosed at early stage and can be resectable; thus, early detection strategies remain an unmet clinical need [4–6].…”

“…In this study, we show that TLP (or a component of this putative complex) corresponds to aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) isoform 1A1 (ALDH1A1). ALDHs are a broad family of intracellular enzymes that are involved in cellular detoxification, differentiation, and drug resistance processes by means of the conversion of exogenous and endogenous aldehydes to carboxylic acids [4, 6, 27–30]. Numerous studies have investigated the biological role of ALDH in cancers including breast cancer, colon cancer, head and neck, papillary thyroid carcinoma, and mainly lung cancer, where they have given supportive evidence for the correlation between ALDH activity and lung cancer stem cells [4, 31–37].…”

Bauerane Induces S-Phase Cell Cycle Arrest, Apoptosis, and Inhibition of Proliferation of A549 Human Lung Cancer Cells Through the Phosphoinositide 3-Kinase (PI3K)/AKT and Signal Transducer and Activator of Transcription 3 (STAT3) Signaling Pathway

“…Human lung cancer is highly aggressive and has a high mortality rate [15,16]. Despite the recent advances in cancer treatment strategies, mortality and morbidity resulting from lung cancer are still very high [17]. Scientists have focused on the discovery of more potent anticancer drugs in recent years.…”

Clinical Application Perspectives of Lung Cancers 3D Tumor Microenvironment Models for In Vitro Cultures

“…Liquid biopsy samples also include cancer free DNA, miRNAs, and tumor-related proteins. This method offers the possibility of more personalized studies of cancer genetics, but there is a disadvantage in the standardization of this method between patients [27]. Most of the commercial cell lines were obtained in the 1980s, therefore their genetical profile might deviate from those which occur in patients nowadays.…”