The effect of ZD6474, an orally available inhibitor of vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-2 (VEGFR-2) and epidermal growth factor tyrosine kinases, was studied in experimental multiple-organ metastasis models with human small-cell lung cancer cell lines (SBC-3 or SBC-5) in natural killer cell-depleted severe combined immunodeficient mice.
Our results provide, for the first time, evidence that a large proportion of a broad panel of small cell lung cancer cell lines express the EGF receptor.
Furthermore, karyotype analysis revealed that SCLC cell lines Lu134 and H69 contained a morphologically normal chromosome 7, which carries the EGF receptor gene.
Six cell lines (3 adenocarcinomas, 2 squamous cell carcinomas and 1 small cell carcinoma) expressed EGF receptor gene and its product to a significant level without gene amplification, and the other three cell lines were found to be negative as regards expression.