Clinical correlates of bombesin-like peptide receptor subtype expression in human lung cancer cells

The importance of the expression of the autocrine growth system for bombesin-like peptides (BLPS) to the biological behavior of human lung cancer has not been determined. Three BLP receptor subtypes have been identified in human lung and lung cancer cells: gastrin-releasing peptide (GRP) receptor, neuromedin B (NMB) receptor, and bombesin receptor subtype 3 (BRS-3). The goals of this study were: (1) to determine BLP receptor subtype expression by human lung cancer cell lines by ; (2) to evaluate possible clinical correlates of characteristics of the patients from whom the cell lines were derived with patterns of BLP receptor expression. Degenerate PCR primers were designed to amplify all known BLP receptors and yielded products from small cell lung carcinoma (SCLC) and non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) cell lines. GRP receptor was the most commonly expressed BLP receptor subtype, being detected in SCLC and NSCLC. Eleven of 20 SCLC expressed NMB receptors, and expressed BRS-3, compared with and , respectively, in NSCLC cell lines. Evaluation of the clinical data of the patients from whom the cell lines were derived revealed expected age, sex, smoking history and survival based on histology and stage. Patients from whom cell lines expressed GRP receptor experienced a better survival than those whose cell lines did not (367±374 days vs. 211±114 days), but the results were not statistically significant. analysis is a feasible, sensitive and specific means of determining BLP receptor expression in lung cancer cells and may yield prognostic information in patient tissue.