A review of the role of dopamine receptors and novel therapeutic strategies in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC)

Lung cancer is a very aggressive and most deadly cancer in both men and women. Lung cancer is divided into two types of small cell lung cancer (SCLC) and non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). NSCLC is divided into 3 subgroups: adenocarcinoma (AC), squamous cell carcinoma (SqCC) and large cell carcinoma (LCC). Dopamine is involved in controlling motions, cognition, emotions, memory and reward mechanisms within the brain. Dopamine receptors are divided into two D1 subfamilies, including D1 and D5, and D2 subfamilies, including D2, D3 and D4 receptors. There is an association between the expression of the D2 family of dopamine receptors and developing NSCLC. miRNAs are conserved molecules with 18-22 nucleotides. miR4301 is located in the first intron of the dopamine D2 receptor gene. Transfection of miR4301 into the A549 and QU-DB lung cancer cell lines reduces cell proliferation and increases apoptosis; so the use of miRNAs in combination with standard therapeutic strategies can improve the success of cancer treatment. In this review article, we evaluated the role of dopamine receptors and novel therapeutic strategies in NSCLC.