How Two Proteins Affect Lung Cancer and Treatment

Lung cancer is a major health issue, with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) making up most cases. This type of cancer often involves a gene called EGFR, which can be targeted with special drugs. However, these drugs often stop working over time. This is where things get interesting. Scientists have been looking into how certain proteins might play a role in this process. Let's talk about two specific proteins: METTL3 and ALKBH5. These proteins are involved in a process called m6A methylation, which can affect how genes are turned on and off. Researchers wanted to see if these proteins had anything to do with how well lung cancer patients respond to treatment and how their disease progresses. In a recent study, scientists examined lung cancer tissue samples from 246 patients. They found that in cases where the EGFR gene was mutated, the levels of METTL3 and ALKBH5 were significantly higher. This suggests that these proteins might be helping the cancer cells become resistant to the drugs designed to target EGFR. The study also looked at how long patients survived without their cancer getting worse. Patients with high levels of METTL3 or ALKBH5 had a shorter time before their cancer progressed. Even more concerning, patients with high levels of both proteins had an even shorter time before their cancer got worse. This indicates that these proteins might be working together to make the cancer more aggressive. So, what does this all mean? It seems that METTL3 and ALKBH5 could be important markers for predicting how well a lung cancer patient will do. If a patient has high levels of these proteins, doctors might need to consider different treatment options or be more vigilant in monitoring the cancer's progress. This is a critical area of research, as finding new ways to predict and treat drug resistance in lung cancer could save many lives. It's also important to note that this study was retrospective, meaning it looked back at existing data. More research is needed to confirm these findings and understand the full role of these proteins in lung cancer.