Endothelial markers and circulating angiogenic factors and p53 may be potential markers for recurrence in surgically resected non-small cell lung cancer patients.
BACKGROUND
Early stage lung cancer is potentially curable by resection, but 30-50% of patients will relapse within five years after surgery. Therefore, the search for a predictive method capable of estimating the risk of recurrence in this population of patients is important.


METHODS
We analysed, on the one hand, the predictive powers for recurrent disease of the immunohistochemical expressions of p53 and the endothelial markers CD34 and CD105 in 53 NSCLC tumor samples, and, on the other hand, their correlations to serum VEGF and bFGF levels. Moreover, we sequenced the whole coding region of the p53 gene in 32 tumor samples for the presence of p53 mutations (exons 2-11) using a cDNA technique.


RESULTS
The two endothelial markers correlated with each other. CD105 expression correlated with p53 expression, which was overexpressed in 49%. No other significant correlations between markers could be demonstrated. A significant correlation between p53 overexpression and recurrent disease was demonstrated (p=0.029). The mutational status of p53 correlated to p53 protein overexpression, but did not correlate with either of the immunohistochemical markers. The mutational status could not confirm an immunohistochemical correlation between p53 and recurrences (p=0.068).


CONCLUSIONS
The present study demonstrates that p53 expression correlates with CD105 expression, and that p53 overexpression may indicate a lower recurrence risk in patients undergoing surgery for NSCLC stage I-IIIA, although future larger prospective studies are needed to fully elucidate this finding.
Department of Oncology, Radiology and Clinical Immunology, Uppsala University Hospital, S751 85 Uppsala, Sweden. Daniel.Brattstrom@onkologi.uu.se
Daniel
D
Brattström
Michael
M
Bergqvist
Kenneth
K
Wester
Patrik
P
Hesselius
Zhi-Ping
ZP
Ren
Lena
L
Scheibenpflug
Gunnar
G
Wagenius
Ola
O
Brodin
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D042501:Angiogenic Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D015703:Antigens, CD; D018952:Antigens, CD34 / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D015415:Biomarkers; D002289:Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D000071063:Endoglin; D042783:Endothelial Cells / Q000378:metabolism*; D004730:Endothelium, Vascular / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis; D011956:Receptors, Cell Surface; D012008:Recurrence; D012307:Risk Factors; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D015996:Survival Rate; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53 / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D019010:Vascular Cell Adhesion Molecule-1 / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism
D042501:Angiogenic Proteins; D015703:Antigens, CD; D018952:Antigens, CD34; D015415:Biomarkers; C064206:ENG protein, human; D000071063:Endoglin; D011956:Receptors, Cell Surface; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53; D019010:Vascular Cell Adhesion Molecule-1