Keio University

Discovery of Gene Mutations Characteristic of Lung Adenocarcinoma Complicated by Interstitial Pneumonia from Whole-Exome Sequencing of Approximately 300 Japanese Patients—Expected to Elucidate New Carcinogenesis Mechanisms and Lead to Applications as Biomarkers—

Publish: August 21, 2018
Public Relations Office

August 21, 2018

National Cancer Center Japan

Tokyo Medical and Dental University

Kansai Medical University

Keio University School of Medicine

Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development (AMED)

Highlights of this research

  • We have pioneered the world in clarifying the characteristics of gene mutations in lung adenocarcinoma complicated by interstitial pneumonia.

  • We found that mutations that cause a loss of function in a group of genes involved in lung formation and function are frequently observed in lung adenocarcinoma complicated by interstitial pneumonia.

  • This is expected to lead to the elucidation of the pathology of lung adenocarcinoma complicated by interstitial pneumonia and the development of new therapeutic methods.

A research team led by Division Chief Takashi Kohno of the Division of Genome Biology, National Cancer Center Research Institute (Director: Hiroyuki Mano), National Cancer Center Japan (President: Hitoshi Nakagama, Chuo-ku, Tokyo), in collaboration with Tokyo Medical and Dental University and other institutions, has determined from the results of whole-exome sequencing of 296 Japanese patients with lung adenocarcinoma, including 54 cases complicated by interstitial pneumonia, that mutations in the Pulmonary Surfactant System Genes are characteristic of lung adenocarcinoma complicated by interstitial pneumonia and that the group with these mutations has a poor prognosis. The research findings were published in "Journal of Clinical Oncology Precision Medicine," a journal of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, on August 17.

For the full press release, please see below.

Press Release (PDF)