BACKGROUNDTo investigate the differentially expressed gene profile between high-rate and low-rate metastatic large-cell lung cancer cell lines via differential display reverse transcript PCR (DDRT-PCR).

METHODSDDRT-PCR was performed in two large-cell lung cancer cell lines with different metastatic ability. The differentially displayed cDNA were cloned and sequenced and compared with the sequences in the GenBank.

RESULTSFifty differentially displayed cDNAs were acquired, including 18 function-known genes, 16 function-unknown genes, 16 genomic DNA fragments and 4 ESTs.

CONCLUSIONSThe cell lines have different gene expression profiles, and metastasis is affected by multi-gene expression and regulation. Some genes which contribute to the metastasis of lung cancer could be found by DDRT-PCR, and this study gives some new clues to cancer diagnosis and therapy.