EPITHELIAL-NEUTROPHIL ACTIVATING PEPTIDE (ENA-78) IS AN IMPORTANT ANGIOGENIC FACTOR IN NONSMALL CELL LUNG-CANCER

We report here the role of the CXC chemokine, epithelial neutrophil ac tivating peptide (ENA-78), as an angiogenic factor in human non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), In freshly isolated human specimens of NSCLC , elevated levels of ENA-78 were found that strongly correlated with t he vascularity of the tumors. In a SCID mouse model of human NSCLC tum origenesis, expression of ENA-78 in developing tumors correlated with tumor growth in two different NSCLC cell lines. Furthermore, passive i mmunization of NSCLC tumor-bearing mice with neutralizing anti-ENA-78 antibodies reduced tumor growth, tumor vascularity, and spontaneous me tastases, while having no effect on the proliferation of NSCLC cells e ither in vitro or in vivo. These findings suggest that ENA-78 is an im portant angiogenic factor in human NSCLC.