Amplification of the N-myc oncogene in an adenocarcinoma of the lung

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Abstract
C‐myc oncogene is the most extensively studied member of the myc gene family. which now consists of three characterized members, namely the c‐myc, N‐myc, and L‐myc genes. Deregulation owing to amplification and/or rearrangements of the c‐myc gene have been described in a variety of human malignancies. Several neuroblastomas have amplifications of the N‐myc genes. The c‐myc, N‐myc, or L‐myc oncogenes are also found amplified in different cell lines from small cell carcinomas of the lung. In this study, we have examined the c‐myc, N‐myc, and c‐erbB oncogenes in 34 clinical and autopsy tumor specimens representing various histopathological types of human lung cancer, including nine small cell lung cancers. A 30‐fold amplification of the N‐myc gene was found in a tumor histopathologically and histochemically verified as a typical adenocarcinoma. No amplifications of the c‐myc or c‐erbB oncogenes were seen in any of the tumors. In the DNA of one small cell carcinoma, an extra c‐myc and N‐myc cross‐hybridizing restriction fragment was observed, possibly owing to an amplification of a yet uncharacterized myc‐related gene.