Lung cancer is developed through the accumulation of genetic alterations.
The number of potential lung cancer-related genes have been enlightened over the last
20 years. Several molecular genetic abnormalities have been described in the
pathogenesis of lung cancer, including the mutational activations of oncogenes, the
inactivation of tumour suppressor genes and the alterations in the genes responsible for
cell cycle regulation and DNA repair. Lung cancer progression is characterised by
cumulative alterations in key molecules involved in the cell cycle, signaling and
angiogenesis pathways. The identification of developmentally regulated pathways
active in tumourigenesis provides insights into lung carcinogenesis and suggests early
steps may differ according to the eventual tumour morphology. Developing novel
biological agents to target lung cancer, and new microarray-based technologies provide
new methods for predicting prognosis and response to treatment. In this chapter,
particulars that have been focus on major recent advances in the molecular study of the
origins and biology of lung cancer.
Keywords: Lung cancer, cytogenetic, molecular genetic, signaling mechanism,
oncogene, tumour suppressor gene.
