Potential Biomarker in Lung Squamous Cell Carcinoma
Detection of fibroblast growth factor receptor 1 (FGFR1) mRNA may prove to be a better predictor of response to FGFR inhibition than the current tests for FGFR1 amplification, according to the findings of Australian investigators. Published in Molecular Cancer Therapeutics, their results also suggest that combining FGFR inhibitors with cisplatin chemotherapy may improve treatment options for patients with this type of lung cancer.
Using clinically relevant patient-derived xenograft models of lung squamous cell carcinoma, Clare E. Weeden, PhD, of the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute in Melbourne, Australia, and colleagues observed FGFR1-overexpressing tumors in all histologic subtypes of non–small cell lung cancers. This finding suggests a broader range of tumors may respond to FGFR inhibition.
Dr. Weeden considered the lung cancer tissue samples donated to the Victorian Cancer Biobank by patients the key to their research. “These models were crucial to define which tumors responded best to FGFR inhibitors,” she explained. Based on their study results, the investigators believe clinical trials combining cisplatin with FGFR inhibitors are warranted.
