The cytokinesis-blocked micronucleus assay as a strong predictor of lung cancer: Extension of a lung cancer risk prediction model

Randa A. El-Zein, Mirtha S. Lopez, Anthony M. D'Amelio, Mei Liu, Reginald F. Munden, David Christiani, Li Su, Paula Tejera-Alveraz, Rihong Zhai, Margaret R. Spitz, Carol J. Etzel

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

40 Scopus citations

Abstract

Background: There is an urgent need to improve lung cancer outcome by identifying and validating markers of risk. We previously reported that the cytokinesis-blocked micronucleus assay (CBMN) is a strong predictor of lung cancer risk. Here, we validate our findings in an independent external lung cancer population and test discriminatory power improvement of the Spitz risk prediction model upon extension with this biomarker. Methods: A total of 1,506 participants were stratified into a test set of 995 (527 cases/468 controls) from MD Anderson Cancer Center (Houston, TX) and a validation set of 511 (239 cases/272 controls) from Massachusetts General Hospital (Boston, MA). An epidemiologic questionnaire was administered and genetic instability was assessed using the CBMN assay. Results: Excellent concordance was observed between the two populations in levels and distribution of CBMN endpoints [binucleated-micronuclei (BN-MN), binucleated-nucleoplasmic bridges (BN-NPB)] with significantly higher mean BN-MN and BN-NPB values among cases (P < 0.0001). Extension of the Spitz model led to an overall improvement in the AUC (95% confidence intervals) from 0.61 (55.5-65.7) with epidemiologic variables to 0.92 (89.4-94.2) with addition of the BN-MN endpoint. The most dramatic improvement was observed with the never-smokers extended model followed by the former and current smokers. Conclusions: The CBMN assay is a sensitive and specific predictor of lung cancer risk, and extension of the Spitz risk prediction model led to an AUC that may prove useful in population screening programs to identify the "true" high-risk individuals. Impact: Identifying high-risk subgroups that would benefit from screening surveillance has immense public health significance.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)2462-2470
Number of pages9
JournalCancer Epidemiology Biomarkers and Prevention
Volume23
Issue number11
DOIs
StatePublished - Nov 1 2014

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Epidemiology
  • Oncology

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'The cytokinesis-blocked micronucleus assay as a strong predictor of lung cancer: Extension of a lung cancer risk prediction model'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this