The Genetic Analysis and Clinical Therapy in Lung Cancer

A special issue of Cancers (ISSN 2072-6694). This special issue belongs to the section "Cancer Therapy".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 10 January 2025 | Viewed by 1950

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Istituto di Tecnologie Biomediche-Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Via F.lli Cervi 93, Segrate, Milano, Italy
Interests: lung cancer; survival; GWAS; germline variants; immunotherapy; pharmacogenomics

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Guest Editor
Department of Medical Biotechnologies, University of Siena, Siena, Italy
Interests: cancer genetics; tumor progression; deep-next generation sequencing; liquid biopsy; circulating tumor DNA; personalized therapy
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

While smoking stands as the predominant risk factor for lung cancer, genetics also plays a significant role in predisposing patients to this malignancy, with germline variations potentially influencing disease progression. Over recent decades, molecular profiling has emerged as a critical tool for stratifying patients based on specific somatic mutations, enabling the utilization of multiple targeted therapies. The introduction of immunotherapy has marked a revolution in lung cancer treatment, substantially enhancing patient outcomes. However, disease progression, resistance to targeted drugs and a lack of responsiveness to immunotherapy remain major challenges in NSCLC cancer treatment, which still has low survival rates.

Our Special Issue seeks to unravel the intricate genetic aspects of this complex disease, exploring somatic mutations, biomarkers, germline variants, and the molecular mechanisms that drive lung cancer. We aim to bridge the gap between scientific discovery and clinical practice, with a particular focus on personalized medicine approaches tailored to individual patients. This Special Issue also aims to explore therapeutic innovations, from targeted therapies to immunotherapies, as well as effective strategies to monitor or predict cancer resistance, with the goal of improving patient outcomes and quality of life.

We eagerly await your upcoming scientific contributions which will be published in Cancers (ISSN 2072-6694; Impact Factor 5.2), as we work towards a future where lung cancer is better understood and more effectively treated.

In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome.

Dr. Francesca Colombo
Dr. Frullanti Elisa
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • lung cancer
  • biomarkers
  • genetic variants
  • innovative technologies
  • targeted therapy
  • immunotherapy
  • personalized therapy
  • survival
  • liquid biopsy pharmacogenomics

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

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17 pages, 2819 KiB  
Article
The Personalized Inherited Signature Predisposing to Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer in Non-Smokers
by Viola Bianca Serio, Diletta Rosati, Debora Maffeo, Angela Rina, Marco Ghisalberti, Cristiana Bellan, Ottavia Spiga, Francesca Mari, Maria Palmieri and Elisa Frullanti
Cancers 2024, 16(16), 2887; https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers16162887 - 20 Aug 2024
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Abstract
Lung cancer (LC) continues to be an important public health problem, being the most common form of cancer and a major cause of cancer deaths worldwide. Despite the great bulk of research to identify genetic susceptibility genes by genome-wide association studies, only few [...] Read more.
Lung cancer (LC) continues to be an important public health problem, being the most common form of cancer and a major cause of cancer deaths worldwide. Despite the great bulk of research to identify genetic susceptibility genes by genome-wide association studies, only few loci associated to nicotine dependence have been consistently replicated. Our previously published study in few phenotypically discordant sib-pairs identified a combination of germline truncating mutations in known cancer susceptibility genes in never-smoker early-onset LC patients, which does not present in their healthy sib. These results firstly demonstrated the presence of an oligogenic combination of disrupted cancer-predisposing genes in non-smokers patients, giving experimental support to a model of a “private genetic epidemiology”. Here, we used a combination of whole-exome and RNA sequencing coupled with a discordant sib’s model in a novel cohort of pairs of never-smokers early-onset LC patients and in their healthy sibs used as controls. We selected rare germline variants predicted as deleterious by CADD and SVM bioinformatics tools and absent in the healthy sib. Overall, we identified an average of 200 variants per patient, about 10 of which in cancer-predisposing genes. In most of them, RNA sequencing data reinforced the pathogenic role of the identified variants showing: (i) downregulation in LC tissue (indicating a “second hit” in tumor suppressor genes); (ii) upregulation in cancer tissue (likely oncogene); and (iii) downregulation in both normal and cancer tissue (indicating transcript instability). The combination of the two techniques demonstrates that each patient has an average of six (with a range from four to eight) private mutations with a functional effect in tumor-predisposing genes. The presence of a unique combination of disrupting events in the affected subjects may explain the absence of the familial clustering of non-small-cell lung cancer. In conclusion, these findings indicate that each patient has his/her own “predisposing signature” to cancer development and suggest the use of personalized therapeutic strategies in lung cancer. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Genetic Analysis and Clinical Therapy in Lung Cancer)
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Review

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19 pages, 1262 KiB  
Review
Exploring the Role of CBX3 as a Potential Therapeutic Target in Lung Cancer
by Muhammad Aamir Wahab, Nunzio Del Gaudio, Biagio Gargiulo, Vincenzo Quagliariello, Nicola Maurea, Angela Nebbioso, Lucia Altucci and Mariarosaria Conte
Cancers 2024, 16(17), 3026; https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers16173026 - 30 Aug 2024
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Abstract
Epigenetic changes regulate gene expression through histone modifications, chromatin remodeling, and protein translation of these modifications. The PRC1 and PRC2 complexes shape gene repression via histone modifications. Specifically, the CBX protein family aids PRC1 recruitment to chromatin, impacting the progressive multistep process driving [...] Read more.
Epigenetic changes regulate gene expression through histone modifications, chromatin remodeling, and protein translation of these modifications. The PRC1 and PRC2 complexes shape gene repression via histone modifications. Specifically, the CBX protein family aids PRC1 recruitment to chromatin, impacting the progressive multistep process driving chromatin silencing. Among family members, CBX3 is a complex protein involved in aberrant epigenetic mechanisms that drive lung cancer progression. CBX3 promotes lung tumorigenesis by interacting with key pathways such as PI3K/AKT, Ras/KRAS, Wnt/β-catenin, MAPK, Notch, and p53, leading to increased proliferation, inhibition of apoptosis, and enhanced resistance to therapy. Given our current lack of knowledge, additional research is required to uncover the intricate mechanisms underlying CBX3 activity, as well as its involvement in molecular pathways and its potential biomarker evaluation. Specifically, the dissimilar roles of CBX3 could be reexamined to gain a greater insight into lung cancer pathogenesis. This review aims to provide a clear overview of the context-related molecular profile of CBX3, which could be useful for addressing clinical challenges and developing novel targeted therapies based on personalized medicine. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Genetic Analysis and Clinical Therapy in Lung Cancer)
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