ADAM8 AS TUMOR MARKER AND THERAPEUTIC TARGET FOR NON-SMALL CELL LUNG CANCER

摘要

In searching for molecules involved in pulmonary carcinogenesis and genes that may serve as diagnostic markers or targets for new molecular therapies, the ADAM8 gene was discovered to be abundantly overexpressed in the great majority of NSCLC samples examined. Subsequent analysis proved that the serum levels of the ADAM8 protein detected by ELISA in lung-cancer patients were significantly higher than those in normal individuals. Furthermore, treatment of NSCLC cells with vector-based small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) against the ADAM8 gene suppressed its expression and resulted in growth suppression of the NSCLC cells. These results indicate that ADAM8 may be useful as a diagnostic marker and as a target for development of new molecular therapies for lung cancer.