Scientists at the National Taiwan University (China) have concluded that a protein called HLJ1 could function as tumor suppressor in non-small cell lung cancer.
The study, published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute was based on increasing or blocking HLJ1 expression in lung carcinoma cells, and gene expression observed in tumors and adjacent tissue cells in 71 patients with cancer NSCLC.
Scientists found that, by stopping the proliferation of cancer cells HLJ1 lung, slowed the progression of cell division cycle and inhibited the ability of cells to move and invade other tissues. In addition, they found that patients with tumors that produced higher amounts of HLJ1 tended to lower cancer recurrence and a longer life than those whose tumors had lower protein presence.
In conclusion, the researchers say that this protein is a novel tumor suppressor of this type of lung cancer, which would benefit those who suffer from a complementary therapy and facilitate the design of individualized treatments.
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A protein may fight lung cancer
HLJ1 study finds that occurs naturally, suppress this type of malignancy
WEDNESDAY, June 21 (HealthDay News) -
A recent study found that a protein that occurs naturally, called HLJ1, could slow or even halt the progression of tumors of non-small cell lung cancer.
The non-small cell lung cancers account for nearly 85 percent of lung malignancies, according to the American Cancer Society.
In the new study included 71 patients diagnosed with non small cell lung cancer. Researchers at the National Taiwan University analyzed HLJ1 levels in cancer cells of patients, and the reaction of these cells to exposure to the protein.
They found that when HLJ1 increased or eliminated in lung cancer cells, differences emerged in terms of tumor proliferation.
If the cells receive a greater exposure to the protein, the tumor experienced a decrease in cell division and less migration to other cells. This suggests that the protein might be a natural tumor suppressor, conclude in the June 21 edition of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. In some cases, the HLJ1 appeared to prevent cancer cells from reproducing at all, they said.
The researchers also noted that 55 of the patients studied, the cancer cells contained much lower concentrations of HLJ1 noncancerous cells. Patients whose tumors were exposed to high concentrations of HLJ1 maintained higher survival rates and lower rates of cancer recurrence.
"These findings may identify a subgroup of patients with small cell lung cancer who could benefit from a complementary therapy and facilitate the design of individualized therapies for lung cancer," they wrote in a prepared statement the authors of the study.
In a related editorial, Adriana Albini and Ulrich Pfeffer of the National Institute of Cancer Research in Genoa, Italy, said the finding "could encourage greater scrutiny of the (protein in the same family as HLJ1) and place the invasion, angiogenesis and metastasis of cancer back in the list of functions inhibited by oncosupresores genes in the lung and perhaps other organs.
