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Retinoid Receptors in NSCLC

Retinoids (vitamin A analogues) are required for normal growth and differentiation of bronchial epithelium, and scientists have postulated that suppression of retinoid receptors in the cell nucleus could enhance cancer development. In the present study, Xu et al. (p. 624) report

that retinoic acid receptor p (RARP) and possibly other retinoid receptors are, indeed, suppressed in a large percentage of patients with non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

The researchers tested for the presence of RARa, RARP, RARy, retinoid X receptor a (RXRa), RXRp, and RXRy in

specimens from 79 patients with NSCLC and in 17 patients with non-lung cancer, which had metastasized to the lungs.

All receptors were expressed in at least 89% of normal bronchial tissue specimens from the patients with nonlung cancer and in distant normal bronchial specimens from patients with NSCLC. RARa, RXRa, and RXRywere expressed in more than 95% of NSCLC specimens. RARP, RARy, and RXRp, however, were detected in only 42%, 72%, and 76% of NSCLC specimens, respectively.