Description
The biologic basis for NSCLC metastasis is not well understood. Here we addressed this deficiency by transcriptionally profiling tumors from a genetic mouse model of human lung adenocarcinoma that develops metastatic disease owing to the expression of K-rasG12D and p53R172H. As a tool to investigate the biologic basis for metastasis in this model and to query the roles of specific genes in this signature, we isolated adenocarcinoma cell lines from these mice and used them to develop a syngeneic tumor model in wild-type littermates. Transcriptional profiling of the highly metastatic subcutaneous tumors revealed genes that regulate, among other processes, epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition and intra-tumoral inflammation and angiogenesis, whereas the non-metastatic tumors did not.