[Recent progress in the biology of small cell bronchial carcinoma]

Progress achieved in the understanding of small cell lung cancer (SCLC) include: the establishment and characterization of cell lines with the identification of a variant type with poor prognosis; the use of non-specific biochemical markers such as neuron specific enolase (NSE) and calcitonin; the generation of monoclonal antibodies (MoAbs) directed against SCLC antigens; growth factors including GRP and IGF. GRP or human bombesin produced by the tumor cells favours their own growths; in cytogenetics, with the observation of a characteristic chromosomal abnormality: the deletion of the short arm of chromosome 3 (3p 14-23). The region deleted is currently under study to identify the genes potentially involved in the oncogenesis of SCLC. the activation of several oncogenes: C-myc, N-myc, L-myc, Myb, Raf-1. The amplification of C-myc favors the tumor cell progression and is related to a bad prognosis. This biological approach has confirmed the neuroendocrine origin of these tumor cells (as a result of protein studies of the cytoskeleton and of MoAbs); it has allowed the use of tumor markers in the diagnosis and work-up of SCLC and the consideration of new therapeutic approaches. Current studies concern the deletion of 3p- and the integration of the cytogenetic data, growth factors and oncogenes in a coherent model of the genesis of SCLC.