Role of peptide growth factors in asbestos-related human lung cancer

Our plain-English summary of Role of peptide growth factors in asbestos-related human lung cancer, by B. Guillemin, Y. Zhang, T.C. Lee, et al (Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1991).

The study

• Authors: B. Guillemin, Y. Zhang, T.C. Lee, W.N. Rom
• Journal: Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences
• Published: 1991;643:245-57
• Type of article: Review
• Cited by: 1 article, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

In plain English

This article was a review rather than a new study. The authors aimed to critically evaluate published research and theories on whether peptide growth factors, proteins that signal cells to multiply, contribute to the development and growth of asbestos-related lung cancers. They reviewed other researchers' laboratory and tissue studies of insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I), transforming growth factor alpha and epidermal growth factor (EGF), platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF), and bombesin. As the authors summarized this literature, IGF-I protein expression was increased in both small-cell and non-small-cell lung cancers. EGF receptor levels were high in squamous cell lung cancer, intermediate in adenocarcinoma and absent in small-cell cancer. PDGF genes were expressed in non-small-cell but not small-cell cancers. The bombesin gene was expressed in almost all small-cell and carcinoid tumors. The authors stated that it is unknown whether asbestos fibers directly activate cancer-related genes in lung cells, and no asbestos fiber types were named. They suggested that clinical trials of anti-growth factor therapy may be envisioned for people with past significant asbestos exposure.

We wrote this plain-English summary from the full article with the help of AI, and a second AI model checked each sentence against the article. It is not the authors' wording; the abstract and the article are their own account.

What the study did and found

• Design: Literature review (no new data collected)
• Who was studied: No patients or workers were studied directly. The authors reviewed published laboratory and tissue studies by others on human lung cancer cell lines and tumor specimens.
• Exposure: Asbestos exposure in general, with no fiber types specified. The article focuses on peptide growth factors (IGF-I, TGF alpha, EGF, PDGF, bombesin) in lung cancer. The authors state that it is unknown whether asbestos fibers directly activate proto-oncogenes in lung cells.
• Main results:
  • In the authors' combined reading of published reports, IGF-I protein expression was increased in both small-cell and non-small-cell lung carcinomas.
  • Studies reviewed by the authors showed EGF receptor at a high level in squamous lung cancer, at an intermediate level in adenocarcinoma, and absent in small-cell lung cancer.
  • Reviewed studies showed PDGF A and B chain genes expressed in non-small-cell lung cancer but not in small-cell lung cancer.
  • Reviewed studies showed the bombesin gene expressed in almost all small-cell lung cancers and carcinoid tumors, but not in non-small-cell lung cancer.
  • The authors noted that alveolar macrophages, the lung's first protective barrier against exposures such as asbestos, silica and cigarette smoke, can spontaneously release exaggerated quantities of PDGF, IGF-I and bombesin when activated.
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that, to break a cycle of growth factor and oncogene stimulation in the lungs of individuals with past significant asbestos exposure, clinical trials of anti-growth factor therapy may be envisioned.

Topics

The National Library of Medicine indexes this study under subjects our site covers: Lung cancer.

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Lung Cancer.

Related studies

• Effect of insulin and epidermal growth factors on the synthesis of glycosaminoglycans/proteoglycans in cultured human malignant mesothelioma cells of different phenotypic morphology — G.N. Tzanakakis, N.K. Karamanos, et al. (1996)
• Proteoglycans in human malignant mesothelioma. Stimulation of their synthesis induced by epidermal, insulin and platelet-derived growth factors involves receptors with tyrosine kinase activity — A. Syrokou, G.N. Tzanakakis, et al. (1999)
• Rat pleural mesothelial cells adapted to serum-free medium as a model for the study of growth factor effects — E. Bermudez, B. Libbus, et al. (1998)
• Occupational lung disease and the role of peptide growth factors — A.R. Brody (1997)
• Activated alveolar macrophages express the insulin-like growth factor-I receptor — W.N. Rom, P. Pääkkö (1991)
• Immunohistochemical localization of transforming growth factor-beta and insulin-like growth factor-I in asbestosis in the sheep model — T.C. Lee, L.I. Gold, et al. (1997)

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