The present study aimed to identify the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between
lung adenocarcinoma and normal lung tissues, and between lung
squamous cell carcinoma and normal lung tissues, with the purpose of identifying potential
biomarkers for the treatment of
lung cancer. The gene expression profile (GSE6044) was downloaded from the Gene Expression Omnibus database, which included data from 10 lung
adenocarcinoma samples, 10 lung
squamous cell carcinoma samples, and five matched normal lung tissue samples. After data processing, DEGs were identified using the Student's t‑test adjusted via the Benjamini‑Hochberg method. Subsequently, Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway enrichment analysis of the DEGs was performed using the Database for Annotation, Visualization and Integrated Discovery, and a global network was constructed. A total of 95 upregulated and 241 downregulated DEGs were detected in
lung adenocarcinoma samples, and 204 upregulated and 285 downregulated DEGs were detected in lung
squamous cell carcinoma samples, as compared with the normal lung tissue samples. The DEGs in the lung
squamous cell carcinoma group were enriched in the following three pathways: Hsa04110, Cell cycle; hsa03030, DNA replication; and hsa03430, mismatch repair. However, the DEGs in the
lung adenocarcinoma group were not significantly enriched in any specific pathway. Subsequently, a global network of
lung cancer was constructed, which consisted of 341 genes and 1,569 edges, of which the top five genes were HSP90AA1, BCL2, CDK2, KIT and HDAC2. The expression trends of the above genes were different in
lung adenocarcinoma and lung
squamous cell carcinoma when compared with normal tissues. Therefore, these genes were suggested to be crucial genes for differentiating
lung adenocarcinoma and lung
squamous cell carcinoma.