The Molecular Genetics of Lung Cancer

From the reviews: "The molecular genetics of lung cancer provides an up-to-date and comprehensive review of the rapidly evolving area of genetics and lung cancer . is an excellent compilation of the available literature on this subject. The data presented are comprehensive and impressively up-to-date. The material is well presented, easily understandable and very well referenced, complemented by good illustrations and diagrams to aid comprehension. Much more than being simply a reference book, this text provides insightful reviews and critique of the research material ." (Athena Matakidou and Richard Houlston, Human Genetics, Vol. 117 (4), 2005)

Preface.- Acknowledgements.- Chapter 1 An Introduction to the Molecular Basis of Cancer Cancer genes: Oncogenes. Tumour suppressor genes. Mutator genes and genetic instability. Cell cycle control genes. Apoptosis regulatory genes. Cancer, signaling and acquired capabilities.- Mutational mechanisms in cancer: Pathological mutations in inherited disease and cancer. Mutational spectra in cancer. Mutation in lung cancer.- Chapter 2 Lung Cancer: Setting the Scene Introduction.- Human lung development.- A short history of lung cancer research.- Lung cancer classification, staging, treatment and prognosis.- Familial aggregation of lung cancer.- Clues to candidate genes from cytogenetic abnormalities and loss of heterozygosity studies.- Chapter 3 Genes Involved in Sporadic Forms of Lung Cancer Oncogenes.- Tumour suppressor genes.- Apoptosis regulatory genes.- Cell cycle control and DNA damage checkpoint genes.- Mutator (DNA mismatch repair) genes and microsatellite instability.- DNA methylation and lung cancer.- The potential significance of tumour suppressor gene location in lung cancer.- The potential significance of oncogene location for chromosomal amplification and gene over-expression in lung cancer.- Telomere length and telomerase activity.- Chapter 4 Somatic Mutation in Lung Cancer Functional consequences of somatic mutation in lung cancer: Ras/MAP kinase pathway. Rb/E2F pathway. p53 pathway. APC/beta-catenin. TGF-beta signaling pathway. Protein phosphatases. Retinoic acid-mediated growth inhibition. DNA repair. Cell cycle control and DNA damage checkpoint genes. Apoptosis signaling pathways. Autocrine and paracrine growth factors. Angiogenesis. Metastasis. Evasion of host immunity. Other miscellaneous genes.- Order and timing of mutations and changes in gene expression in lung cancer,- Detection of mutations or aberrant methylation in sputum or plasma from lung cancer patients.- Early diagnosis and identification of prognostic factors.- Molecular genetics of chemotherapy and chemoresistance.- Chapter 5 Genetic Approaches to Studying the Association Between Smoking and Lung Cancer Genetic changes associated with smoking: Loss of heterozygosity and smoking. Aberrant DNA methylation in lung cancers of smokers. Telomerase activity and smoking. Gene expression studies of lung tumour tissue from smokers and non-smokers. Differences in mutation frequency/mutational spectra between smokers and non-smokers.- p53 mutations, benzo[alpha]pyrene and lung cancer: the controversy. The BPDE-induced mutagenesis model. Endogenous versus exogenous causes of mutation. A re-examination of the BPDE-induced mutagenesis model. Have some TP53 mutations occurred during cell culture rather than in the tumour? Other problems for the BPDE-induced mutagenesis model. The key importance of the quality of the IARC database.- Putting the p53/BPDE-induced mutagenesis controversy in its proper context.- The genetics of nicotine addiction.- Chapter 6 Evidence for genetic susceptibility to lung cancer derived from polymorphism-disease association studies Polymorphisms and polymorphism-disease association studies.- Polymorphism-disease association studies in lung cancer.- Interpreting the role of xenobiotic metabolizing enzyme polymorphisms in lung cancer.- Interpreting the role of DNA repair enzyme polymorphisms in lung cancer.- DNA repair activity for oxidative damage; the contribution of OGG1.- TP53 gene polymorphisms and lung cancer risk.- Chapter 7 Gene Expression Studies in Lung Cancer Studies of the expression of individual genes.- Studies of the expression of multiple genes by microarrays and similar techniques.- Lung tumour cell ontogeny may be determined by gene expression pathways that recapitulate lung development.-