title: Antineural and antinuclear autoantibodies are of prognostic relevance in non-small cell lung cancer.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Autoantibodies against nervous system structures have been proven to be a prognostic factor in small cell lung cancer. However, little is known about humoral autoimmunity in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and its prognostic significance.
  
  
  METHODS
  We examined antineural antibodies (AnAb) and antinuclear antibodies (ANA) in the sera of 61 patients with NSCLC (histologically: 29 adenocarcinoma, 32 squamous cell carcinoma). Twenty-one patients had stage I NSCLC, 11 stage II, and 29 patients stage III. Autoantibody detection was done by immunofluorescence test; Western blotting was used as a confirmation test.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the NSCLC patients, 27.8% were antineural antibody positive, and 32.7% had ANA. No differences were found between the histological groups. AnAb-positive patients showed a better survival in all patients (p = 0.005). There was also a higher survival of ANA-positive patients, but this was only significant in stage III (p = 0.0025). Cox regression analysis showed that antineural and antinuclear antibodies are a stage-independent prognostic factor in NSCLC.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Antineural and antinuclear autoantibodies are a stage-independent prognostic factor in patients with NSCLC and may represent an effective immune response to the tumor.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, University of the Saarland, Homburg, Germany. nefbla@krzsun.med-rz.uni-sb.de
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Blaes
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Klotz
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Huwer
authors.forename: U
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Straub
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Kalweit
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Schimrigk
authors.forename: H J
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Schäfers
mesh_terms: D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000276:immunology; D000368:Aged; D000974:Antibodies, Antinuclear / Q000097:blood*; D001323:Autoantibodies / Q000097:blood*; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000097:blood; D015153:Blotting, Western; D002289:Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung / Q000276:immunology*; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000276:immunology; D002531:Cerebellum / Q000276:immunology*; D005260:Female; D019084:Fluorescent Antibody Technique, Indirect; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000276:immunology*; D008297:Male; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011379:Prognosis; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D011446:Prospective Studies; D015996:Survival Rate
chemical_list: D000974:Antibodies, Antinuclear; D001323:Autoantibodies; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor