KEY TAKEAWAYS
- The study aimed to investigate the expression pattern and prognostic relevance of Myc family members (C-Myc, L-Myc, and N-Myc) in surgically resected SCLC.
- Researchers noticed that C-Myc protein expression independently predicts poorer survival outcomes in surgically resected SCLC tumors; further investigation is ongoing.
By playing a crucial role in the tumor evolution and disease progression of small cell lung cancer (SCLC), Myc family members (C-Myc, L-Myc, and N-Myc) present themselves as potential targets for therapeutic interventions.
Christian Lang and his team aimed to comprehensively investigate these oncogenic proteins’ expression patterns and prognostic implications within an international cohort of surgically resected SCLC tumors.
Researchers performed an inclusive analysis, collecting clinicopathological data and surgically resected tissue specimens from 104 SCLC patients across two collaborating European institutes. Utilizing immunohistochemistry (IHC), the team stained tissue sections for all three Myc family members alongside recently introduced molecular subtype-markers specific to SCLC (ASCL1, NEUROD1, POU2F3, and YAP1).
The IHC analysis revealed that C-Myc, L-Myc, and N-Myc exhibited positivity in 48%, 63%, and 9% of the surgically resected SCLC specimens, respectively. Notably, N-Myc positivity significantly correlated with the POU2F3-defined molecular subtype (r = 0.6913, P = 0.0056).
In terms of overall survival (OS), SCLC patients with C-Myc positive tumors experienced significantly worse outcomes of (20 vs. 44 months compared to those with C-Myc negative tumors, P = 0.0176). Confirming its independent prognostic significance in a multivariate risk model adjusted for clinicopathological and treatment variables, positive C-Myc expression was identified as a robust predictor of impaired OS (HR 1.811, CI 95% 1.054-3.113, P = 0.032).
The study concluded that Myc family members exhibit variable positivity in surgically resected SCLC tumors, with C-Myc protein expression independently correlating with poorer survival outcomes. Further investigations are essential to delineate the potential roles of Myc family members as prognostic and predictive markers in this challenging disease.
The study received open-access funding from Semmelweis University, Nemzeti Kutatási Fejlesztési és Innovációs Hivatal, Innovációs és Technológiai Minisztérium, Magyar Tüdőgyógyász Társaság
Source: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38369463/
Lang C, Megyesfalvi Z, Lantos A, et al. (2024). C-Myc protein expression indicates unfavorable clinical outcome in surgically resected small cell lung cancer. World J Surg Oncol. 2024 Feb 19;22(1):57. doi: 10.1186/s12957-024-03315-7. PMID: 38369463; PMCID: PMC10875875.
