Pharmacogenomic Cluster Analysis of Lung Cancer Cell Lines Provides Insights into Preclinical Model Selection in NSCLC.

Human lung cell lines are utilized widely for investigating tumor biology, experimental therapy, anticancer drug screening and biomarkers identification. However, the consistency of drug responses of these established cell lines and non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is uncertain. In this study, we assessed the drug response consistency between lung cell lines and NSCLC tumors in The Cancer Genome Atlas by hierarchical clustering using copy number variations in driver genes, and profiled the molecular patterns and correlations in cell lines. We found that some frequently used cell lines of NSCLC subtypes were not clustered with their matched subtypes of tumor. Mutation profiles in the oxidative stress response and squamous differentiation pathway in lung cell lines were in concordance with lung squamous cell carcinoma. Furthermore, lung cell lines and tumors in the same sub-cluster had very similar responses to certain drugs but some were inconsistent, suggesting that clustering through copy number variation data could capture part of the suitability of lung cell lines. The analysis of these results could aid investigators in evaluating drug response models and eventually enabling personalized treatment recommendations for individual patients with NSCLC.