The level of c-Ki-ras-2-specific mRNA was found to be markedly enhanced (10- to 20-fold) in a human epidermoid lung carcinoma transplanted into nude mice, compared with that in other lung carcinomas.
These results suggest that (1) the K-ras and p53 gene alterations would have no special roles in terms of the lung carcinogenesis in young adults; (2) a positive relationship between smoking and p53 gene alteration would exist in young adults with lung cancer, and (3) K-ras gene alteration would become a prognostic factor in lung cancer.
Because of the paucity of sputum samples, it was difficult to conclude whether K-ras gene mutations are useful for molecular screening for lung cancer at the present time.
The Spanish Lung Cancer Group trial of preoperative chemotherapy, in which the cisplatin dose was randomized to either 50 mg/m2 or 100 mg/m2 plus 3 g/m2 ifosfamide and 6 mg/m2 mitomycin, examines the effect of K-ras gene mutations on tumor response and survival.
At a multiplicity of infection to achieve 65% transduction of cells, the expression of K-ras protein was reduced by 70% in the lung cancer cell line H460a as compared with cells infected with control vectors or noninfected cells.
The mapping near Kras2 of pulmonary adenoma susceptibility 1 (Pas1), a major locus affecting inherited predisposition to lung cancer in mice prompted us to test the homologous human region (12p12) for association with lung adenocarcinoma, by a population-based study.
It was applied to analyze mutations in codon 12 of the K-ras gene in 43 tissue sites microdissected from paraffin-embedded sections obtained from 8 archival cases of lung cancer, all previously shown to have codon 12 K-ras mutations by direct sequencing.
Because there is no clear consensus as to the predictive value of K-ras gene mutation for survival in patients with lung cancer, we examined the occurrence of K-ras mutations in a large, prospective case series of non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
K-ras gene point mutation in neogenetic lesions of subpleural fibrotic lesions: either an early genetic event in lung cancer development or a non-specific genetic change during the inflammatory reparative process.
Homozygosity of the A2 allele at a Kras2/RsaI polymorphism, and allele 2 at a VNTR polymorphism in the PTHLH gene showed borderline statistically significant associations with lung cancer risk.
Allele-specific oligonucleotide hybridization revealed the same KRAS2/RsaI polymorphism associated with risk and prognosis as in Italian lung ADCA patients; the polymorphism was significantly associated with clinical stage (P < 0.001) and survival rate (log rank = 0.0014), confirming the mapping of PAS1 and pointing to the role of this locus in human lung cancer.
Mutations in the K- ras gene are very common in lung tumours and are implicated in the development of lung cancer, but the timing of their occurrence remains poorly understood.
The present review article summarizes evaluations of P53, P16 and K-RAS in lung cancer with particular focus on biological and clinical implications, as well as on new molecular approaches to the study of these genes: P53 by yeast functional assay, P16 by methylation specific PCR (MSP) and K-RAS by enriched PCR technique.
Mutations of the Kristen ras (K-ras) gene have been implicated in the pathogenesis of human lung cancer, especially adenocarcinoma, and have been proposed to be a prognostic factor.
Expression of ras protein in type II alveolar pneumocytes and mutation in the codon 12 of K-ras gene in lung tissue may contribute to the induction of lung carcinoma in patients with IPF.
Differences in KRAS mutation spectrum in lung cancer cases between African Americans and Caucasians after occupational or environmental exposure to known carcinogens.