Pharmacological inhibition of caspase-8 limits lung tumour outgrowth.

ABSTRACT:

Background and purpose

Lung cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer death worldwide. Despite advances in therapy, conventional therapy is still the main treatment and has a high risk of chemotherapy resistance. Caspase-8 is involved in cell death and is a recognized marker for poor patient prognosis.

Experimental approach

To elucidate the role of caspase-8 in lung carcinoma, we used human samples of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and a mouse model of carcinogen-induced lung cancer.

Key results

Healthy and cancerous NSCLC samples had similar levels of the active form of caspase-8. Similarly, lung tumour-bearing mice had high levels of the active form of caspase-8. Pharmacological inhibition of caspase-8 by z-IETD-FMK robustly reduced tumour outgrowth and this

SUBMITTER: Terlizzi M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4523345 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature