Epigenetic Changes as Prognostic Markers in Patients With Early Stage Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

OBJECTIVES:

• Evaluate aberrant methylation patterns in tissue and serum samples from patients with early-stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) to validate the Johns Hopkins single institutional study.
• Attempt to define subgroups of patients at greater risk for recurrent or metastatic disease who may benefit from more aggressive adjuvant therapeutic regimens.
• Develop prognostic indicators for disease-specific and overall survival.
• Define new potential molecular targets for therapy.

OUTLINE: Archived tumor and intrathoracic lymph node tissue samples are analyzed for aberrant DNA methylation (p16/CDKN2A, DAP kinase, H-cadherin, APC, and RASSF1A) by methylation-specific PCR. Analyses are then compared with the preliminary data from the Johns Hopkins institutional study.