Abstract 1005: Interaction between the estrogen receptor and fibroblast growth factor receptor pathways in non-small cell lung cancer

The estrogen receptor (ER) promotes cell proliferation in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Since fibroblast growth factors (FGFs) are known regulators of stem cell markers in ER positive breast cancer, we investigated whether a link between the estrogen pathway, FGFs, and stem cell markers could be demonstrated in NSCLC animal models, human cells lines and tumor tissue. In the lungs of female FVB/N mice exposed to the tobacco carcinogen 4-(methylnitrosoamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanone, NNK, treatment with the anti-estrogen fulvestrant and/or the aromatase inhibitor anastrozole blocked secretion of both FGF2 and FGF9, and reduced expression of the stem cell markers SOX2 and nanog. These effects were observed in the normal airway epilthelium as well as in both lung preneoplasias and lung adenomas. To investigate the effects of β-estradiol (E2), male mice were administered E2 in the drinking water during exposure to NNK for 4 weeks. In this mouse model, the incidence of carcinogen-induced lung preneoplasias increased 1.8-fold (p Citation Format: Laura P. Stabile, Natalie J. Rothenberger, Mariya Farooqui, Sanja Dacic, Jill M. Siegfried. Interaction between the estrogen receptor and fibroblast growth factor receptor pathways in non-small cell lung cancer [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2017; 2017 Apr 1-5; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2017;77(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 1005. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2017-1005