Epithelial plasticity shapes intratumoral heterogeneity and cell lineages in early-stage lung cancer - PubMed
5 days ago
- #intratumoral heterogeneity
- #epithelial plasticity
- #lung cancer
- Intratumoral heterogeneity (ITH) in early-stage lung cancer is poorly understood compared to advanced stages.
- Single-cell and spatial transcriptomics of early-stage lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) reveal pervasive transcriptional ITH.
- Epithelial plasticity, including less differentiated states and transdifferentiation, drives early ITH in lung cancer.
- Decreased differentiation is a hallmark of malignant transformation and predicts poor prognosis.
- A unique transitional state during AT2-to-AT1 transdifferentiation shows activated tumor-suppressive pathways/genes.
- KLF4 and JDP2 are key transcription factors that reprogram LUAD into a transitional state and inhibit progression.
- Findings suggest potential epithelial plasticity-targeted therapies for early-stage lung cancer.