title: Krebs von den Lungen-6 (KL-6) is a prognostic biomarker in patients with surgically resected nonsmall cell lung cancer.
abstract: By immunizing mice with a lung adenocarcinoma cell line, we previously established a murine IgG1 monoclonal antibody that recognizes a sialylated sugar chain designated Krebs von den Lungen-6 (KL-6). KL-6 is a high-molecular-weight glycoprotein classified as a human MUC1 mucin. The aim of this study was to determine whether KL-6 expression in tumors correlates with circulating KL-6 levels and whether circulating KL-6 has any prognostic value in patients with surgically resected non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Immunohistochemical analysis of KL-6 expression was performed on 103 NSCLC tissues, and its associations with serum KL-6 levels and survival were examined. We also evaluated whether KL-6 expression patterns and/or serum KL-6 levels could predict prognosis in these NSCLC patients. Immunohistochemical analysis of KL-6 in NSCLC tissues showed that a depolarized KL-6 expression pattern was associated with a high level of circulating KL-6 and a poor prognosis in NSCLC patients who underwent curative surgery. Furthermore, a high circulating KL-6 level was associated with both poorer progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS), and multivariate analyses confirmed its independent prognostic value for both PFS and OS (p = 0.041 and 0.023, respectively). Our data suggest that preoperative serum KL-6 level reflects KL-6 expression patterns in NSCLC tissue, and can serve as a useful prognostic biomarker in NSCLC patients who undergo curative surgery.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular and Internal Medicine, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Hiroshima University, Hiroshima 734-8551, Japan.
authors.forename: Sonosuke
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tanaka
authors.forename: Noboru
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Hattori
authors.forename: Nobuhisa
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ishikawa
authors.forename: Hiroyasu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Shoda
authors.forename: Atsushi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Takano
authors.forename: Ryohei
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Nishino
authors.forename: Morihito
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Okada
authors.forename: Koji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Arihiro
authors.forename: Kouki
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Inai
authors.forename: Hironobu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hamada
authors.forename: Akihito
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Yokoyama
authors.forename: Nobuoki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kohno
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000818:Animals; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000097:blood*; D002289:Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung / Q000097:blood* / Q000601:surgery*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000097:blood* / Q000601:surgery*; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008875:Middle Aged; D018396:Mucin-1 / Q000097:blood*; D011379:Prognosis; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; C060192:MUC1 protein, human; D018396:Mucin-1