Mutational Analysis Of Thyroid Transcription Factor-1 Gene And Investigation On Its Expression In Lung Carcinoma

Background and ObjectivesLung cancer is increasingly detrimental to people's health. From the middle of the 20th century, the morbidity and mortality of lung cancer are growing rapidly worldwide. In most developed countries, lung cancer ranks first in males and second or third in females in commonly seen malignant tumors. According to the survey of WHO in 2001, lung cancer is the major cancer globally with the morbidity of 1.2 million and the mortality of 1.1 million per year. In 2000, the death rate of lung cancer was about 30% among all cancers estimated by the American Cancer Association. In cities as well as villages in China, lung cancer is the leading cancer and the major cause of death among all tumors, which surpasses 20% of the cause of cancer deaths. Lung cancer is expected to be the most serious tumor among Chinese people in this century. There are still no effective measures of early diagnosis and treatment for lung cancer. The five-year survival rate is about 10%-15%. Deep research into the carcinogenesis and development of lung cancer is of great significance to the early diagnosis, detection of metastasis and judgement of prognosis of lung cancer.Thyroid Transcription Factor-1 (TTF-1) is a newly found molecular marker, which is selectively expressed in the thyroid, lung and certain regions of the brain during different periods of development. It is closely correlated with the histogenesis and maintenance of the function of these organs. It is correlated with tumorigenesis and development of other diseases.Previous researches on TTF-1 in lung carcinoma center on the expression of TTF-1 in different kinds of lung carcinomas. Studies on quantitative analysis of TTF-1, its expression in lymph node metastases of lung carcinomas (including the qualitative and quantitative analyses), and the molecular mechanisms which affect TTF-1 expression haven't been investigated.