APOPTOSIS GENE EXPRESSION PROFILE IN EARLY-STAGE NON SMALL CELL LUNG CANCER

Non small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is a highly aggressive malignancy with survival rates limited to some patients in early stages (I and II). Apoptosis resistance is a hallmark of solid tumors that is tightly concerned with their biology. We analyzed the expression of 84 apoptosis-related genes in a group of Bulgarian patients with early-stage NSCLC. RNA samples extracted from 12 early-stage NSCLC patients [five squamous cell carcinomas (SCC) and seven adenocarcinomas (AC)] and eight adjacent non neoplastic pulmonary tissues were used for gene expression analysis. We applied pathway-focused expression profiling of 84 apoptosis-related genes using real-time PCR. Apoptosis-related genes down regulated in NSCLC compared to non tumor lung tissue (p<0.05) included representatives of the tumor necrosis factor (TNF) ligand family [TNF superfamily 8 (TNFSF8)], caspase cascade (CASP8 and CASP10) and caspase recruitment domain (CARD) family (BCL10), the positive apoptosis regulator DAPK1 and BCL2 family member MCL1. The potential of apoptosis-related genes as prognostic and predictive markers should be validated in future studies.