Serum levels of surfactant protein D predict the anti-tumor activity of gefitinib in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer.

Purpose: Gefitinib is an epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor (EGFR-TKI) that has dramatic effects in selective patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). A simple non-invasive method for predicting the efficacy of gefitinib is preferable in clinical settings. In this study, we evaluated prospectively whether surfactant protein-A (SP-A) and -D (SP-D) may be new conventional predictors of the efficacy of gefitinib treatment.

Methylation status of breast cancer resistance protein detected by methylation-specific polymerase chain reaction analysis is correlated inversely with its expression in drug-resistant lung cancer cells.

Background: Breast cancer resistance protein (BCRP) functions as a drug efflux transporter that mediates drug resistance. Topoisomerase I inhibitors, including 7-ethyl-10-hydroxycamptothecin (SN-38), are substrates effluxed by BCRP. However, it remains unclear whether the overexpression of BCRP induces drug resistance during chemotherapy.

Different epidermal growth factor receptor gene mutations in a patient with 2 synchronous lung cancers.

Recently, the frequency of lung adenocarcinoma has been increasing among nonsmokers, though the etiology remains unclear. Mutations of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) gene are frequently detected in the lung adenocarcinomas seen in nonsmokers. Thus, EGFR mutations can be implicated in carcinogenesis of lung adenocarcinoma.

Heterogeneity of epidermal growth factor receptor mutations within a mixed adenocarcinoma lung nodule.

It has been proposed that stepwise progression occurs from atypical adenomatous hyperplasia (AAH) through bronchioloalveolar carcinoma (BAC) to invasive lung adenocarcinoma. However, the underlying molecular mechanisms have not been identified. We report a patient with a mixed adenocarcinoma of the lung that had different EGFR mutations in the papillary subtype, the acinar subtype, and the surrounding AAH and BAC areas.