Cyclin D1 as a target for chemoprevention

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer mortality. Chemoprevention is an attractive strategy to combat this major public health problem. Pre-clinical and clinical studies have identified diverse candidate chemopreventive agents that affect cellular proliferation, differentiation, apoptosis and tumor angiogenesis, among other pathways. These pharmacological agents are undergoing testing through use of pre-clinical models and clinical trials. These studies have uncovered cyclin D1 as a chemoprevention target and a surrogate marker of chemopreventive response in the lung. Chemoprevention of tobacco-carcinogen transformed human bronchial epithelial (HBE) cells appears to be due at least partly to degradation of cyclin D1. These studies of cultured HBE cells were extended to the in vivo setting by examination of preneoplastic bronchial lesions that established the frequent aberrant expression of cyclin D1 in lung carcinogenesis. Certain retinoids, natural and synthetic derivatives of vitamin A, repress cyclin D1, but activation of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) induces cyclin D1. Retinoids and specific chemopreventive agents can activate the proteasome-dependent degradation of cyclin D1 and also repress EGFR expression, thereby reducing cyclin D1 levels. These actions oppose the mitogenic effects of cyclin D1. This is hypothesized to trigger G1 arrest and thereby permit repair of carcinogenic damage of genomic DNA. These and other pre-clinical and clinical studies that will be reviewed here indicate that cyclin D1 and perhaps other cyclins are attractive pharmacological targets for lung cancer chemoprevention.