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There are many similarities between embryonic development and tumorigenesis, and gene expression profiles show that certain correlations exist between the gene signature during development and the clinical phenotypes of different cancers. Our group previously reported the gene expression profiles of human lung development, and the expression of one group of proliferation‐related genes (PTN1 genes) steadily decreased during lung development. Here, we examined the prognostic value of PTN1 genes in 5 independent lung adenocarcinoma (ADC) and 5 lung independent squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) microarray datasets and found that the expression levels of PTN1 genes were associated with survival in lung ADC but not lung SCC. All of the lung ADC datasets contained a set of highly correlated genes from PTN1 genes, but the lung SCC datasets had no similar set of genes. We identified 63 unique core genes from the PTN1 genes in the 5 lung ADC datasets: 17 of these core genes appeared in at least 4 of the lung ADC datasets, and the 17 corresponding proteins clearly interacted more strongly with each other in lung ADC than in lung SCC. Moreover, 16 of the 17 core genes play major roles in the G2/M phase of the cell cycle. These data indicate that proliferation‐related genes in lung development have a significant prognostic value for lung ADC; the synergistic effects of the 17 core genes play an important role in lung ADC prognosis. These genes may have significant clinical implications for the treatment and prognosis of lung ADC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Conventional bronchoscopy with brushing alone for diagnosing peripheral pulmonary lesions ( PPLs) is of low sensitivity. A manual mapping method was introduced and evaluated in this study, which could be routinely applied with bronchoscopic brushing to improve the sensitivity for malignant PPLs. Methods This mapping method involves the bronchoscopist drawing the route with a series of bronchial opening sketches and marking the leading bronchus at every bifurcation point based on thin-section computed tomography. This map is then used to guide bronchoscope insertion for brushing. A cross-sectional study on the evaluation of this method for the diagnosis of malignant PPLs was conducted on patients from July 2010 to June 2013. Results The sensitivity for malignant PPLs of conventional brushing, conventional brushing with mapping on a portion of patients, and conventional brushing with mapping method increased from 17.0% to 25.8% to 31.5% ( P < 0.001), respectively. For lesion sizes over 3 cm, the rate of these three groups increased from 25.1% to 38.6% to 50.9% ( P < 0.001), respectively. The sensitivity of this mapping method for malignant PPLs was statistically associated with lesion size, lesion character, relationship between the lesion and the leading bronchus, linear distance between the targeted bronchus and the opening of the lobe bronchus, and accessibility ( P < 0.001, P = 0.039, P < 0.001, P = 0.031, and P = 0.020, respectively). Conclusions The manual mapping method greatly increased the bronchoscopic brushing sensitivity for malignant PPLs compared to the conventional brushing method. During routine clinical work, it is economical and convenient for guiding bronchoscope insertion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accumulating evidence suggests that interferon (IFN) alpha/beta are involved in antitumor immunity and cancer immunoediting, but information on the antitumor effects of IFN alpha/beta in lung cancer is limited. In our study, we elucidated the IFN alpha/beta signature during both human fetal lung development and lung tumorigenesis. Our findings indicated gradual upregulation in the IFN alpha/beta signature during human fetal lung development. In addition, this signature was progressively downregulated in normal human airway epithelial cells from lung cancer patients, in immortalized human bronchial epithelial cell lines from later passages, in late-stage lung squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC) tissues, and in LSCC tissues exhibiting lymph node metastasis. Therefore, from its earliest stages, lung tumorigenesis may be associated with a decreased IFN alpha/beta signature. This association may provide insight to guide the detection of high-risk lung cancer patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]