Abstract

LACTATE DEHYDROGENASE-A IN NON-SMALL CELL LUNG CANCER; A POTENTIAL THERAPEUTIC AND DIAGNOSTIC BIOMARKER

Abrar Ahmed and Chen Dingding*

Abstract

Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) treatment may be curative in early stages of disease, but majority of patients are presented with metastatic disease, making their treatment incurable. Depending on disease stage, age and overall performance multidisciplinary approach including radiotherapy, surgery and/or chemotherapy are used for the management of NSCLC. Chemo-resistance to available therapeutic agents for NSCLC poses a significant obstacle to obtain long-term outcomes from these therapies. Development in the field of specific biomarkers may help in early diagnosis and prediction of treatment response. Lactate dehydrogenase A (LDH-A) is not just a glycolytic enzyme which increases in several malignancies but an important biomarker used for tumor diagnosis and therapeutics. Elevated levels of LDH-A; is correlated with cancer proliferation and malignant growth. Inhibiting the function of LDH-A could restrict the energy supply to tumors and interfere with cancer development. Specific LDH-A inhibitors are in clinical oncology trials, but still not available in clinical practice. This review summarizes the significance of LDH-A in NSCLC, in terms of diagnosis, prognosis and as a novel therapeutic target as well as its role in resistance against chemotherapeutic agents and tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) have also been discussed.

Keywords: Biomarker, Diagnosis, Lactate dehydrogenase A, Non-small cell lung cancer, Chemotherapy.