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Recent advances in histogenesis research of lung neuroendocrine cancers: Evidence obtained from functional analyses of primitive neural/neuroendocrine cell‐specific transcription factors
Author(s) -
Yazawa Takuya
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
pathology international
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.73
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1440-1827
pISSN - 1320-5463
DOI - 10.1111/pin.12267
Subject(s) - histogenesis , transcription factor , biology , pou domain , neuroendocrine differentiation , cancer research , neuroendocrine tumors , progenitor cell , lung , phenotype , cell , neuroendocrine cell , pathology , microbiology and biotechnology , immunohistochemistry , medicine , immunology , stem cell , cancer , endocrinology , gene , genetics , prostate cancer , homeobox
Small cell carcinoma ( SmCC ) and large cell neuroendocrine carcinoma ( LENEC ) are categorized as neuroendocrine cancers ( NEC s) of the lung and have extremely poor prognoses. The lack of an effective therapeutic strategy against SmCC and LCNEC is a serious issue. Because the regulation of the cellular phenotype is complicated by the actions of various transcription factors, investigations into the function of neural/neuroendocrine cell‐specific transcription factors are important for elucidating the cellular characteristics and histogenesis of SmCC and LCNEC and for establishing innovative therapeutic strategies against them. In this review, the functions of ASCL1 , Neuro D 1, REST , TTF1 , and class III/IV POU , that are specifically and highly expressed in lung NEC s, are introduced. These transcription factors transactivate and/or transrepress various genes and are involved in neural progenitor phenotyping, neuroendocrine and stem cell marker expression, and epithelial‐to‐mesenchymal transition. Based on the evidence that certain carcinoids express ASCL1 , Neuro D 1, TTF1 , and class III/IV POU and that lung NEC s can develop from non‐ NE cells/non‐ NEC cells, the relationships among lung NEC s, carcinoid tumors, and non‐ NEC s are discussed. Finally, a model of the histogenesis of lung NEC s in view of similarities in the expression of primitive neural/neuroendocrine cell‐specific transcription factors is proposed.