RHOB influences lung adenocarcinoma metastasis and resistance in a host-sensitive manner

We identified the small GTPase RHOB as a gene that promotes early and late stages of metastasis in ADC. Gene silencing of RHOB prevented metastatic activity in a systemic murine model of bone metastasis. These effects were highly dependent on tumor-host interactions. Clinical analysis revealed a marked association between high RHOB levels and poor survival. Consistently, high RHOB levels promote metastasis progression, taxane-chemoresistance, and contribute to the survival advantage to γ-irradiation. We postulate that RHOB belongs to a novel class of “genes of recurrence” that have a dual role in metastasis and treatment resistance.