Molecular genetics of lung and pleural neoplasms

Molecular pathology involves study of nucleic acids, genes, and gene products.1-9 The development and progression of human cancers are linked to genetic instability and the accumulation of multiple genetic mutations, which can be investigated with the tools of molecular pathology.10-25 Molecular pathology provides a basis for understanding the biology of lung cancer,26-36 including its pathogenetic relationship to tobacco smoking,37-57 and increasingly is providing targets for therapeutic intervention. 58-78 In this section, we briefly review the basic terminology and concepts, as an introduction or refresher to subsequent sections of this chapter, and we discuss nucleic acids, genes, and gene products; replication, translation, and transcription; posttranslational modifications of gene products and protein degradation; transcription factors, cell surface receptors and signaling pathways, the cell cycle, apoptosis, cell survival and DNA damage repair; mutations; and microRNAs and siRNAs.