Researchers find gene driving common lung cancer — and a possible way to slow it

New York City-based NYU Langone Health's Perlmutter Cancer Center researchers identified a gene that drives the development of the second most common type of lung cancer, and a way to improve treatment.

The study, published in Cancer Cell on Jan. 9, found that deleting a gene called KMT2D caused normal basal lung cells to transform into lung squamous carcinoma cells. 

Currently, lung squamous carcinoma, or LUSC, is responsible for 20 percent to 30 percent of lung cancer deaths, according to a Jan. 9 news release from NYU Langone Health. There is no approved, targeted, first-line therapy for LUSC.

Researchers tested a drug combination on mice engineered without the KMT2D gene and found the drugs slowed cancer growth.

"The same genetic changes that cause the gene to contribute to cancer also create tumors that are very sensitive to existing drugs that target a related pathway," study author Kwok-Kin Wong, MD, PhD, director of the division of hematology and medical oncology at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, said in the release. "Our study identifies KMT2D as a pivotal contributor to the development of lung squamous cancers, and offers vital clues about how to target KMT2D-deficient LUSC."

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