CEA, DSV, IRCM, SREIT, Laboratoire de Cancérologie Expérimentale, BP6, Fontenay-aux-Roses Cedex F-92265, France.
Lung Cancer. 2010 Apr;68(1):1-9. doi: 10.1016/j.lungcan.2009.11.001. Epub 2009 Dec 8.
Adenocarcinomas (AC), squamous cell carcinomas (SCC) and adenosquamous carcinomas (ASC) are three histological subtypes of non-small-cell lung carcinomas (NSCLC). ASC are morphologically mixed tumours that contain the two cell components AC and SCC. To understand if they are a "simple" mix of AC and SCC or if they present molecular specificities, as compared with the molecular characterization of both components, we performed a comparative transcriptome analysis on a series of nine ASC, five AC and five SCC induced in rats by radon exposure. We found that 72, 40 and 39 genes were differentially expressed when comparing AC_SCC, ASC_SCC and AC_ASC, respectively. Moreover, when classifying the three histological subtypes, using genes that discriminated AC and SCC, we observed that all ASC were classified as intermediate between the AC and SCC, some being closer to AC, others to SCC. These results indicated that, regarding gene expression, ASC could be considered as a mix of AC and SCC, both in various proportions. However, they also exhibit molecular specificities since we found specific genes discriminating ASC_SCC and AC_ASC. In conclusion, the ASC mixed lung tumours are more complex than simple mixes of AC and SCC components. Neuroendocrine differentiation and ERK proliferation pathways seemed preferentially deregulated in ASC compared to AC and SCC respectively, pathways that are worthy of being explored because they could partially explain the high clinical aggressiveness of ASC.
腺鳞癌（AC）、鳞状细胞癌（SCC）和腺鳞癌（ASC）是非小细胞肺癌（NSCLC）的三种组织学亚型。ASC 是形态混合的肿瘤，包含 AC 和 SCC 两种细胞成分。为了了解它们是 AC 和 SCC 的“简单”混合物，还是与两种成分的分子特征相比具有分子特异性，我们对氡暴露诱导的大鼠 9 例 ASC、5 例 AC 和 5 例 SCC 进行了比较转录组分析。我们发现，当比较 AC_SCC、ASC_SCC 和 AC_ASC 时，分别有 72、40 和 39 个基因差异表达。此外，当使用区分 AC 和 SCC 的基因对三种组织学亚型进行分类时，我们观察到所有 ASC 都被分类为 AC 和 SCC 之间的中间型，有些更接近 AC，有些更接近 SCC。这些结果表明，就基因表达而言，ASC 可以被认为是 AC 和 SCC 的混合物，比例各不相同。然而，它们也表现出分子特异性，因为我们发现了区分 ASC_SCC 和 AC_ASC 的特定基因。总之，ASC 混合肺肿瘤比 AC 和 SCC 成分的简单混合物更复杂。与 AC 和 SCC 相比，神经内分泌分化和 ERK 增殖途径似乎在 ASC 中优先失调，这些途径值得进一步研究，因为它们可能部分解释了 ASC 较高的临床侵袭性。
