Relevance and Disease
Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer related death worldwide. In the United States alone, over 120,000 deaths were caused by lung cancer in 2024[1]. Non small cell lung cancer make up approximately 84% of all lung cancer cases, and of these lung adenocarcinoma accounts for about 65%[2]. In lung adenocarcinoma, STK11 is the third most commonly mutated gene, behind only KRAS and p53[3].
STK11 is a master kinase, signalling upstream of AMPK family kinases, p53, FAK, to regulate processes like anoikis, adhesion, growth, metabolism, and survival[4], [5]
