The expression levels of miR‑195 were decreased in two SQCLC cell lines (H520 and SK‑Mes‑1) compared with a normal lung cell line, and miR‑195 directly targeted the 3'‑untranslated region of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in SQCLC cells.
Although the majority of these advances took place in the non-squamous histological subtype, therapeutic options for patients diagnosed with advanced squamous cell lung cancer (SqCLC) have been also enriched significantly with the addition of nab-paclitaxel in the conventional chemotherapy; the introduction of necitumumab, afatinib and erlotinib in the inhibition of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) axis and of ramucirumab in the inhibition of VEGF-induced angiogenesis and last with the approvals of nivolumab, pembrolizumab atezolizumab and durvalumab soon in the promising field of immunotherapies.
Our meta-analysis provides strong evidence that VEGF -2578C>A polymorphism is capable of increasing lung cancer susceptibility, especially among smokers and lung squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) patients.