title: Elevated expression of Cripto-1 correlates with poor prognosis in non-small cell lung cancer.
abstract: Human Cripto-1 (CR-1) plays an important oncogenic role during tumorigenesis and is overexpressed in a wide range of carcinomas, yet little is known about CR-1 in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The aims of this study were to detect CR-1 expression in NSCLC and to analyze its association with prognosis of NSCLC patients. The expression of CR-1 messenger RNA (mRNA) and protein in 35 cases of NSCLC and corresponding noncancerous tissue samples was examined by quantitative real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) and Western blotting. Immunohistochemistry was performed to detect the expression of CR-1 in 128 NSCLC tissues. The expression levels of CR-1 mRNA and protein in NSCLC tissues were significantly higher than those in corresponding noncancerous tissues (P < 0.001). A high level of CR-1 expression was correlated with poor tumor differentiation (P = 0.002), tumor-node-metastasis (TNM) stage (P = 0.004), and lymph node metastasis (P = 0.001). The results of the Kaplan-Meier analysis indicated that a high expression level of CR-1 resulted in a significantly poor prognosis of NSCLC patients. Multivariate Cox regression analysis revealed that CR-1 expression level was an independent prognostic parameter for the overall survival rate of NSCLC patients. Our data suggest that the high expression of CR-1 may play an important role in the progression of NSCLC, and CR-1 expression may offer a valuable marker for predicting the outcome of patients with NSCLC.
authors.affiliation: Department of Respiratory Medicine, Nanjing Chest Hospital, 215 Guangzhou Road, 210029, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China.
authors.forename: Chun-Hua
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Zhi-Hong
authors.initials: ZH
authors.lastname: Sheng
authors.forename: Hui-Di
authors.initials: HD
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.forename: Ke-Ke
authors.initials: KK
authors.lastname: Hao
authors.forename: Qing-Bo
authors.initials: QB
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Li-Ke
authors.initials: LK
authors.lastname: Yu
mesh_terms: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D015153:Blotting, Western; D002289:Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D058851:GPI-Linked Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D036341:Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011379:Prognosis; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D015854:Up-Regulation
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D058851:GPI-Linked Proteins; D036341:Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins; C070636:TDGF1 protein, human