2009 UALC
Ignacio Wistuba, MD
University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
Research Project:
Comparison of molecular pathogenesis and field cancerization phenomenon in lung adenocarcinoma from never-smoker versus smokers
Summary:
Dr. Wistuba is investigating the early pathological changes that occur in the lung during cancer progression in never versus ever smokers. He is looking specifically at the molecular and genetic changes that occur involved in the invasion process, as well as the pathogenesis of multiple synchronous adenocarcinomas.
More Content:
Final Report
Dr. Wistuba’s findings suggest that in lung adenocarcinomas with BAC features, overexpression and abnormalities in certain genes, histological profiles and protein expression patterns were associated with a better prognosis for patients. Dr. Wistuba also investigated lung cancer in smokers versus never-smokers, KRas and EGFR-driven lung cancer. In never-smokers with tumors harboring EGFR mutations, the EGFR mutation was the only phenomenon detected in the field cancerization (area surrounding the tumor) of lung adenocarcinomas. In smokers with tumors harboring KRas mutations (more common in smoking-related lung cancer), KRas mutation was not detected in the field cancerization of lung adenocarcinomas. Dr. Wistuba’s future efforts to study field cancerization will including using high-throughput gene expression (mRNA), microRNA and DNA analyses.
Notable Accomplishments
This award represents the first grant obtained by the Wistuba laboratory to study the field cancerization phenomenon and progression of lung adenocarcinomas from non-invasive to invasive components. This work led to a $1,232,000 grant from the Department of Defense to continue and expand these studies. Dr. Wistuba presented his research at the 2nd Annual Insights Into Research.