title: [Expression of ΔNp73 in human NSCLC and clinical implication].
abstract: BACKGROUND
  ΔNp73 is an isoform of the p53 homologue p73, which lacks an NH₂-terminal transactivation domain and antagonizes the induction of gene expression by p53 and p73. The aim of this study is to investigate the expression of ΔNp73 mRNA in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and to analyse its relations with clinicopathologic factors and prognosis.
  
  
  METHODS
  Semiquantitative reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was used to detect the expression of ΔNp73 mRNA in 40 resected NSCLC specimens with the neighboring noncancerous tissue. The significance of ΔNp73 mRNA expression was analyzed statistically.
  
  
  RESULTS
  ΔNp73 mRNA was highly expressed in lung cancer tissues (62.7%, 32/51) while negative in neighboring noncancerous tissue. The expression of ΔNp73 mRNA was associated with pathological TNM stage (P=0.046), but not associated with age, gender, histological type and differentiation status. Survival of patients with high ΔNp73 mRNA was significantly poorer than those with low ΔNp73 mRNA levels (P < 0.001). Multivariate analysis revealed that ΔNp73 mRNA levels were a significant prognostic factor, independent of the other conventional prognostic factors.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  NSCLC has overexpression of ΔNp73 mRNA, which is closely related to TNM stages and prognosis of patients with NSCLC. These results suggest that measurement of ΔNp73 mRNA levels in tumor tissues might be useful as a promising predictor for the prognosis of patients with NSCLC.
authors.affiliation: Thoracic Surgery Center of People's Liberation Army, Daping Hospital/The Research Institute of Surgery, The Third Military Medical University, Chongqing 400042, P.R.China.
authors.forename: Yong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: He
authors.forename: Shizhi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fan
authors.forename: Yaoguang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.forename: Zhiqiang
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Xue