A unique small cell lung carcinoma disease progression model shows progressive accumulation of cancer stem cell properties and CD44 as a potential diagnostic marker

Small cell lung carcinoma (SCLC) is a histological subtype of lung carcinoma with a 5  year survival rate of only 6% after diagnosis [1]. Although only representing about 10% of total lung cancer incidence, SCLC has the highest mortality rate. SCLCs can be categorized into two cellular subtypes based on the presence (classic SCLC) or absence (variant SCLC) of neuroendocrine (NE) ma rkers like neural cell adhesion molecule (NCAM), synaptophysin (SYP) and chromogranin A (CHGA) [2,3]. However, recent understandings of the molecular biology of SCLC suggest that these subtypes maybe present as a subset of cells within one patient and as such constitute intratumoral heterogeneity [4 ].
Source: Lung Cancer - Category: Cancer & Oncology Authors: Source Type: research