Difference in survival and prognostic factors between smokers and never-smokers with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer

Genetic variants of CHRNA5-A3 and CHRNB3-A6 predict survival of patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer

Nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) play a key role in carcinogenesis and progression of lung cancer; and polymorphisms in CHRNA5-A3 and CHRNB3-A6, two gene clusters encoding nAChR subunits, have been associated with lung cancer risk. In this study, we investigated whether variants in the two gene clusters were associated with prognosis of advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). A total of 165 stage IIIB–IV NSCLC patients were enrolled in this study. Three polymorphisms (rs667282 and rs3743073 in CHRNA5-A3 and rs13280604 in CHRNB3-A6) were genotyped using the TaqMan method. Overall survival (OS) was estimated using the log-rank test and the Cox models. Our results showed that patients with CHRNA5-A3 rs667282 TT or TC genotypes had a significantly shorter OS than those carrying the CC genotype (Log-rank, P = 0.043). Furthermore, multivariate Cox regression analysis showed that rs667282 TT/TC genotypes are significantly associated with increased risk of overall deaths (adjusted hazard ratio, 1.7; 95% CI, 1.1–2.7). However, the similar results were not observed for other two polymorphisms. Furthermore, no evident association was found between these variants and clinicopathologic features of advanced NSCLC. Our present study suggested that rs667282 in CHRNA5-A3 may modify the prognosis of patients with advanced NSCLC.

Active smoking may negatively affect response rate, progression-free survival, and overall survival of patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma treated with sunitinib

BACKGROUND

Obesity, smoking, hypertension, and diabetes are risk factors for renal cell carcinoma development. Their presence has been associated with a worse outcome in various cancers. We sought to determine their association with outcome of sunitinib treatment in metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC).

METHODS

An international multicenter retrospective study of sunitinib-treated mRCC patients was performed. Multivariate analyses were performed to determine the association between outcome and the pretreatment status of smoking, body mass index, hypertension, diabetes, and other known prognostic factors.

RESULTS

Between 2004 and 2013, 278 mRCC patients were treated with sunitinib: 59 were active smokers, 67 were obese, 73 were diabetic, and 165 had pretreatment hypertension. Median progression-free survival (PFS) was 9 months, and overall survival (OS) was 22 months. Factors associated with PFS were smoking status (past and active smokers: hazard ratio [HR]: 1.17, p = .39; never smokers: HR: 2.94, p < .0001), non-clear cell histology (HR: 1.62, p = .011), pretreatment neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio >3 (HR: 3.51, p < .0001), use of angiotensin system inhibitors (HR: 0.63, p = .01), sunitinib dose reduction or treatment interruption (HR: 0.72, p = .045), and Heng risk (good and intermediate risk: HR: 1.07, p = .77; poor risk: HR: 1.87, p = .046). Factors associated with OS were smoking status (past and active smokers: HR: 1.25, p = .29; never smokers: HR: 2.7, p < .0001), pretreatment neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio >3 (HR: 2.95, p < .0001), and sunitinib-induced hypertension (HR: 0.57, p = .002).

CONCLUSION

Active smoking may negatively affect the PFS and OS of sunitinib-treated mRCC. Clinicians should consider advising patients to quit smoking at initiation of sunitinib treatment for mRCC.

Functional polymorphisms of CHRNA3 predict risks of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and lung cancer in Chinese

Recently, several genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified many susceptible single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and lung cancer which are two closely related diseases. Among those SNPs, some of them are shared by both the diseases, reflecting there is possible genetic similarity between the diseases. Here we tested the hypothesis that whether those shared SNPs are common predictor for risks or prognosis of COPD and lung cancer. Two SNPs (rs6495309 and rs1051730) located in nicotinic acetylcholine receptor alpha 3 (CHRNA3) gene were genotyped in 1511 patients with COPD, 1559 lung cancer cases and 1677 controls in southern and eastern Chinese populations. We found that the rs6495309CC and rs6495309CT/CC variant genotypes were associated with increased risks of COPD (OR = 1.32, 95% C.I. = 1.14–1.54) and lung cancer (OR = 1.57; 95% CI = 1.31–1.87), respectively. The rs6495309CC genotype contributed to more rapid decline of annual Forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) in both COPD cases and controls (P<0.05), and it was associated with advanced stages of COPD (P = 0.033); the rs6495309CT/CC genotypes conferred a poor survival for lung cancer (HR = 1.41, 95%CI = 1.13–1.75). The luciferase assays further showed that nicotine and other tobacco chemicals had diverse effects on the luciferase activity of the rs6495309C or T alleles. However, none of these effects were found for another SNP, rs1051730G>A. The data show a statistical association and suggest biological plausibility that the rs6495309T>C polymorphism contributed to increased risks and poor prognosis of both COPD and lung cancer.