Targeting EIF4F complex in non-small cell lung cancer cells

// Lu Dai 1, 2, 3 , Zhen Lin 4 , Yueyu Cao 3 , Yihan Chen 3 , Zengguang Xu 3 and Zhiqiang Qin 1, 2, 3 1 Department of Genetics, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, Louisiana Cancer Research Center, New Orleans, LA 70112, USA 2 Department of Pediatrics, East Hospital, Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200120, China 3 Research Center for Translational Medicine and Key Laboratory of Arrhythmias, East Hospital, Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200120, China 4 Department of Pathology, Tulane University Health Sciences Center, Tulane Cancer Center, New Orleans, LA 70112, USA Correspondence to: Zhiqiang Qin, email: zqin@lsuhsc.edu Zengguang Xu, email: xuzg1998@163.com Keywords: EIF4F, EIF4A, EIF4E, EIF4G, eukaryotic initiation factors Received: May 18, 2017      Accepted: May 29, 2017      Published: June 08, 2017 ABSTRACT Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) accounts for about 85–90% of lung cancer cases, which represents the leading cause of cancer-related death in the world. The majority of lung cancer patients doesn't respond well to conventional chemo-/radio-therapeutic regimens and have a poor prognosis. The recent introduction of targeted therapy and immunotherapy gives new hopes to NSCLC patients, but their outcome/prognosis is far from satisfactory. The translation initiation EIF4F complex has been shown to play important roles in cancer progression, but its functional role and therapeutic effect in lung cancers especially NSCLC remain largely unknown. In this current review, we summarize recent findings regarding the role of EIF4F complex in NSCLC progression and targeted therapy potentials. We also discuss the unanswered questions and future directions in this field.