Recent progress in carcinogenesis, progression and therapy of lung cancer: the 19th Hiroshima Cancer Seminar: the 3rd Three Universities' Consortium International Symposium, November 2009.

This symposium presented recent progress of the pathogenesis and treatment of lung cancer. Aberrantly increased expression of miR-21 plays a significant role in lung carcinogenesis and is a potential therapeutic target in both epidermal growth factor receptor-mutant and wild-type cases. miR-34 may be necessary for the radiation-induced DNA damage response. Detailed expression profiling analyses of transcriptome have potential to provide increased understanding of the molecular biology of lung cancer. An embryonic signature is present in lung adenocarcinoma only, associated with a worse clinical outcome. Cytoplasmic expression of caveolin and membranous expression of CD26 are specific to mesothelioma. Nectin-4 is a new candidate for serum and tissue biomarker as well as a therapeutic target for lung cancer. Clinical presentations have provided us a great deal information on epidermal growth factor receptor mutations for personalized therapy, combination therapy with inhibitors of the tyrosine kinase activity of epidermal growth factor receptor and cytotoxic agents, antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity activity, and current management of lung cancer depending on both the extent of the disease and the treatment approach.