Abstract 3545: Identifying the effects of lung cancer exosomes on non-tumorigenic human bronchial epithelial cells

Abstract

Abstract Lung cancer is the leading cause of death from cancer in most industrialized countries and many lung cancer patients remain undiagnosed until the development of locally advanced or metastatic lung cancer. Despite extensive research, universal biomarkers for the early diagnosis of lung cancer remain elusive, and therapies for treating lung cancer patients remain ineffective and unfocused. This makes the identification of new diagnostic biomarkers and therapeutic targets for the treatment of lung cancer a critical need for patients. Exosomes, nanovesicles secreted by a variety of cell types, are known to transfer bioactive molecules such as proteins and nucleic acids that induce physiological changes in recipient cells. Exosomes secreted by cancer cells have been shown to promote tumor initiation, progression, and metastasis in various cancer types, but have been understudied in lung cancer. Our study aims to identify the effects lung cancer secreted exosomes may have on non-cancerous cells of the tumor microenvironment by assessing their tumorigenic effects on normal lung epithelial cells. To that end, we treated normal lung epithelial cells with exosomes derived from a panel of human non-small lung cancer cell lines. Treated cells acquired the ability to invade and migrate. As a proxy for metastasis, cancer exosomes are also being assayed for their ability to permeabilize a monolayer of normal lung epithelial cells. Further assessing the molecules within cancer exosomes critical for promoting these oncogenic behaviors in non-tumorigenic cells could lead to the discovery of potential diagnostic biomarkers and therapeutic targets for inhibiting tumor growth in affected patients. Citation Format: Hana Kubo, Sean E. Humphrey, Sarunya Kitdumrongthum, Feng Tian, Sarah Allen, Andrea L. Kasinski. Identifying the effects of lung cancer exosomes on non-tumorigenic human bronchial epithelial cells [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2018; 2018 Apr 14-18; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2018;78(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 3545.