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| |  Certain Genetic Profiles Associated With Recurrence-Free Survival for NSCLC CHICAGO -- February 9, 2010 -- An analysis of genetic and clinical data for nearly 800 patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) has identified differences in genetic characteristics that are associated with age and sex specific patterns of increased or decreased recurrence-free survival, according to a study published in the February 10 issue of JAMA. “Despite evidence that clinical and pathologic factors are clinically relevant, little is known regarding the underlying biological differences in lung tumour gene expression among patients with different clinicopathologic characteristics,” the authors wrote. “A deeper understanding of molecular abnormalities at a pathway level may help dissect the complex mechanisms of lung cancer oncogenesis, shed light on the biological underpinnings contributing to survival differences in NSCLC that are age- and sex-based, and further help identify specific cohorts of patients that may be more susceptible to novel individualised therapeutic strategies.” William Mostertz, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, and colleagues examined clinically relevant differences in the underlying biology of NSCLC based on patient age and sex. The study consisted of an analysis, performed from July 2008 to June 2009, of 787 patients with predominantly early stage NSCLC. Lung tumour samples with corresponding microarray and clinical data were used. All patients were divided into subgroups based on age (< 70 years vs >= 70 years) or sex. Low- and high-risk patient clusters/groups were identified with the longest and shortest 5-year recurrence-free survival, respectively, within the age and sex NSCLC subgroups. The researchers found that these cohorts of NSCLC demonstrated unique patterns of pathway activation. In patients younger than 70 years, high-risk patients, with the shortest recurrence-free survival, demonstrated increased activation of the Src gene (25% vs 6%) and tumour necrosis factor (76% vs 42%) pathways compared with low-risk patients. High-risk patients aged 70 years or older demonstrated increased activation of the wound healing (40% vs 24%) and invasiveness (64% vs 20%) pathways compared with low-risk patients. The researchers found a difference in the biology of lung cancer between men and women. “In women, high-risk patients demonstrated increased activation of the invasiveness and STAT3 pathways while high-risk men demonstrated increased activation of the STAT3, tumour necrosis factor, epidermal growth factor receptor, and wound healing pathways,” the authors wrote. “We believe our findings represent a novel approach to defining clinically relevant cohorts of NSCLC stratified by age and sex that are enriched for specific pathway activity and that would be more apt for therapeutic intervention when planning clinical trials with drugs that target specific pathway-related abnormalities or tumor biology,” the authors concluded. “With genomic assays now being increasingly practical and clinically applicable, with turnaround times of 5 to 7 days, we believe our findings, while hypothesis generating and needing further validation, represent a step forward in defining pathway-driven cohorts of NSCLC that likely explain the age- and sex-specific differences seen in NSCLC.”
SOURCE: JAMA
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