Slebos R J, Rodenhuis S
Division of Experimental Therapy, The Netherlands Cancer Institute, Amsterdam.
Eur Respir J. 1989 May;2(5):461-9.
With the development of molecular biological techniques the search for genetic alterations in cancer cells has resulted in the beginning of a molecular description of cellular transformation. Most of these genetic changes occur in genes which have a role in the control of cellular growth and development, the proto oncogenes. In the last decade, it has become clear that the myc and ras oncogene families are important in the carcinogenesis of human lung cancers. The myc oncogenes are usually found to be altered in small cell lung cancer (SCLC), and these alterations appear to correlate with rapid growth and progression. Mutations in the Kras gene are specific for adenocarcinoma, a subclass of non small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Kras gene mutations are closely associated with tobacco smoking, since all were found in adenocarcinomas from patients with a history of smoking. The erbB oncogene, which encodes the epidermal growth factor receptor, is often highly expressed in epidermoid carcinomas. The roles for other oncogenes, such as raf or myb, as well as those of "suppressor" genes remain to be investigated, but may be of paramount importance. The study of alterations in proto oncogenes may aid in the (sub)classification and diagnosis of lung cancer, and may yield useful prognostic information in the near future.
随着分子生物学技术的发展，对癌细胞基因改变的研究开启了细胞转化的分子描述。这些基因变化大多发生在对细胞生长和发育起控制作用的基因，即原癌基因中。在过去十年中，已明确myc和ras癌基因家族在人类肺癌的致癌过程中很重要。通常发现myc癌基因在小细胞肺癌（SCLC）中发生改变，这些改变似乎与快速生长和进展相关。Kras基因的突变对腺癌具有特异性，腺癌是非小细胞肺癌（NSCLC）的一个亚类。Kras基因突变与吸烟密切相关，因为所有这些突变都在有吸烟史患者的腺癌中被发现。编码表皮生长因子受体的erbB癌基因在表皮样癌中常高表达。其他癌基因，如raf或myb，以及“抑制”基因的作用仍有待研究，但可能至关重要。对原癌基因改变的研究可能有助于肺癌的（亚）分类和诊断，并可能在不久的将来产生有用的预后信息。
