All of these findings are consistent with loss of Fhit protein expression being as frequent an abnormality in lung cancer pathogenesis as are p53 and p16 protein abnormalities and that such loss occurs independently of the commitment to the metastatic state and of most other molecular abnormalities.
Polymerase chain reaction amplification and direct sequencing of p16 exons 1 and 2 revealed no mutations, indicating that p16-altered expression in lung cancer is not necessarily linked to mutational events of these genes.
In contrast, p16 expression was lost in moderate dysplasia (12%) and in CIS (30%) in patients with lung cancer. p16 loss occurred exclusively in patients who displayed loss of p16 expression in their related invasive carcinoma.
In contrast, cancer cell lines which were wild-type for p16 but mutant or null for pRb (Saos-2, C33a and H358) were <threefold more sensitive to Adp16 when compared to a control virus.
Since somatic mutations of the p53, RB and p16 genes occur frequently in lung cancer and the replication error phenotype is seen in a subset of lung cancer, it is possible that germ-line mutations of the p53, RB, p16 and mismatch repair genes influence the susceptibility to lung cancer.
Furthermore, rat lung cancer appears to be an excellent model in which to investigate the mechanisms of de novo gene methylation and the role of p16 dysfunction in the progression of neoplasia.
Both copies of the candidate tumor suppressor gene on chromosome 9, CDKN2, are deleted in approximately one-fourth of lung cancer cell lines examined and the protein product of CDKN2, p16 is undetectable in one-third of the lung cancer cell lines studied.