Researchers at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in the United States revealed that inflammation may be a major cause of the early stages of lung cancer.
By creating high-resolution cellular and molecular optical maps of lung cancer before and during its development, researchers were able to track the development of the disease in its early stages and understand the molecular dynamics of cancer progenitor cells.
Dr. Hammam Kadara, professor of translational molecular pathology, said: “We found that the early cells responsible for lung cancer are located in areas of intense inflammation, surrounded by proinflammatory cells. Targeting inflammation by neutralizing a stimulus called IL-1B reduces these cancer progenitor cells. Our work paves the way for new strategies to intercept the early stages of the disease and improve patients’ lives.”
Spatial analysis maps of gene transcription provide a visual representation of where and how genes are expressed within samples, and characterizing cells and genes in progenitor lesions allows for tissue changes that may develop into cancer and identifies potential targets for early intervention.
The researchers created spatial analysis maps of gene transcription for 56 human progenitor lesions and advanced lung cancer samples from 25 patients, and the results were validated using an independent set that included 36 lesions from 19 patients, which included 486,519 spots and 5.4 million cells for analysis.
The study showed that areas of inflammation in lesions contain alveolar cells associated with tumors, and are more active and widespread in the early stages of cancer development. These inflammatory areas were also observed in laboratory models, indicating that inflammation in them may be a direct factor in the appearance of tumors.
The results suggest that targeting inflammation, either alone or in combination with immunotherapy, may represent a promising strategy to intercept lung cancer in its early stages and improve patients’ chances of survival.