Research on small cell lung cancer
Angiogenesis Weekly
March 13, 2009
Current study results from the report, 'MET as a target for treatment of chest tumors,' have been published. According to recent research published in the journal Lung Cancer, "The receptor tyrosine kinase MET has been studied of a large variety of human cancers, including lung and mesothelioma. The MET receptor and its ligand HGF (hepatocyte growth factor) play important roles in cell growth, survival and migration, and dysregulation of the HGF-MET pathway leads to oncogenic changes including tumor proliferation, angiogenesis and metastasis."
"In small cell lung cancer (SCLC), non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), and malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM), MET is dysregulated via overexpression, constitutive activation, gene amplification, ligand-dependent activation, mutation or epigenetic mechanisms. New drugs targeted against MET and HGF are currently being investigated in vitro and in vivo, with promising results. These drugs function at a variety of steps within the HGF-MET pathway, including MET expression at the RNA or protein level, the ligand-receptor interaction, and tyrosine kinase function," wrote N.A. Cipriani and colleagues, University of Chicago, Department of Medicine (see also Small Cell Lung Cancer).
The researchers concluded: "This paper will review the structure, function, mechanisms of tumorigenesis, and potential for therapeutic inhibition of the MET receptor in lung cancer and mesothelioma."
Cipriani and colleagues published their study in Lung Cancer (MET as a target for treatment of chest tumors. Lung Cancer, 2009;63(2):169-79).
For additional information, contact N.A. Cipriani, University of Chicago Medical Center, Dept. of Medicine, Chicago, IL 60637 USA..
