CONTEXT: Lung cancer is the number one cause of cancer deaths in the United States and globally. The advent of targeted therapies has offered a new treatment paradigm for lung cancer, but currently validated and emerging drugs are effective in only a small minority of lung cancers, predominantly adenocarcinomas. Folate receptors can serve as targets for drugs attached to folate and are overexpressed in many cancers. OBJECTIVE: To determine the frequency of folate receptor overexpression in lung cancers of different cell types as potential targets for folate-linked therapy. DESIGN: High-density tissue microarrays were constructed from archival formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded resection specimens from 188 primary stage I or stage II adenocarcinomas or squamous cell carcinomas of the lung with three 0.1-cm cores from each tumor. Tissue microarrays were immunostained for folate receptor α with mAb343 and the results scored (0 to 1+ = weak expression, 2+ to 3+ = strong expression). RESULTS: Eighty-four of 117 (72%) of the adenocarcinomas were strongly positive for the folate receptor, and 36 of 71 (51%) of the squamous cell carcinomas were strongly positive for the folate receptor. CONCLUSIONS: Our data indicate that a large percentage of lung cancers, including squamous cell carcinomas in addition to adenocarcinomas, strongly express folate receptor. This suggests that folate-linked targeted therapy can potentially be used to treat the majority of lung cancers, both adenocarcinomas and, particularly, squamous cell carcinomas, that do not respond to current targeted therapies.
CONTEXT: Lung cancer is the number one cause of cancer deaths in the United States and globally. The advent of targeted therapies has offered a new treatment paradigm for lung cancer, but currently validated and emerging drugs are effective in only a small minority of lung cancers, predominantly adenocarcinomas. Folate receptors can serve as targets for drugs attached to folate and are overexpressed in many cancers. OBJECTIVE: To determine the frequency of folate receptor overexpression in lung cancers of different cell types as potential targets for folate-linked therapy. DESIGN: High-density tissue microarrays were constructed from archival formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded resection specimens from 188 primary stage I or stage II adenocarcinomas or squamous cell carcinomas of the lung with three 0.1-cm cores from each tumor. Tissue microarrays were immunostained for folate receptor α with mAb343 and the results scored (0 to 1+ = weak expression, 2+ to 3+ = strong expression). RESULTS: Eighty-four of 117 (72%) of the adenocarcinomas were strongly positive for the folate receptor, and 36 of 71 (51%) of the squamous cell carcinomas were strongly positive for the folate receptor. CONCLUSIONS: Our data indicate that a large percentage of lung cancers, including squamous cell carcinomas in addition to adenocarcinomas, strongly express folate receptor. This suggests that folate-linked targeted therapy can potentially be used to treat the majority of lung cancers, both adenocarcinomas and, particularly, squamous cell carcinomas, that do not respond to current targeted therapies.
Authors: Song Han; Mehmet C Soylu; Ceyhun E Kirimli; Wei Wu; Bhaswati Sen; Suresh G Joshi; Christopher L Emery; Giang Au; Xiaomin Niu; Richard Hamilton; Kyle Krevolin; Wei-Heng Shih; Wan Y Shih Journal: Biosens Bioelectron Date: 2019-01-21 Impact factor: 10.618
Authors: Joel Y Sun; Jiayin Shen; Joel Thibodeaux; Gang Huang; Yiguang Wang; Jinming Gao; Philip S Low; Dimiter S Dimitrov; Baran D Sumer Journal: Laryngoscope Date: 2014-03-04 Impact factor: 3.325
Authors: Jarrod D Predina; Andrew D Newton; Courtney Connolly; Ashley Dunbar; Michael Baldassari; Charuhas Deshpande; Edward Cantu; Jason Stadanlick; Sumith A Kularatne; Philip S Low; Sunil Singhal Journal: Mol Ther Date: 2017-10-26 Impact factor: 11.454