title: [Tumor-stroma ratio is an independent prognostic factor of non-small cell lung cancer].
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The different expression of tumor-stroma ratio (TSR) have been proved to be a new and reliable independent prognostic factor in some solid tumors.The aim of the study is to test the different expression of TSR and its prognostic significance in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 73 patients who underwent surgery resection for NSCLC were included in this study. TSR was assessed visually on the hematoxylin-stained tissue sections of surgical specimens. Patients with more than 50% intratumor stroma were quantified as the stroma-rich group and those with less than 50% as the stroma-poor group.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In 73 cases of tissue samples, 46 cases were included in the stroma-poor group, while 27 cases in stroma-rich group. The different expression of TSR in NSCLC tissue was not correlated with gender, age and pathological type, lymph node metastasis, tumor size, pTNM staging, and so on. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis showed that the different expression of TSR was significantly correlated with survival days (P=0.014). Cox regression analysis showed that not only different expression of TSR is a independent prognostic factor for NSCLC (HR=1.832, 95%CI: 1.017-3.299), but also pTNM staging (HR=1.953, 95%CI: 1.284-2.970).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The different expression of TSR might be an independent prognostic factor in NSCLC.
authors.affiliation: Department of Respiratory Medicine, Nanjing General Hospital of Nanjing Command, Clinical School of the Medical College of Nanjing University, Nanjing 210002, China.
authors.forename: Zhaofeng
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Hongbing
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Rende
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: He
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Chunhua
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Yong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Song
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002289:Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D063868:Patient Outcome Assessment; D011379:Prognosis; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D047368:Tumor Burden