title: Tumor MET expression profile predicts the outcome of non-small cell lung cancer patients receiving epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitors.
abstract: This study assesses whether MET expression in tumor tissue is associated with an increased sensitivity to epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients.
  
  
  
  This retrospective study included 69 NSCLC participants with available tumor tissue and data on treatment response and survival. MET and hepatocyte growth factor expression in tumor tissue were evaluated by immunohistochemistry.
  
  
  
  Positive tMET expression correlated with a shorter progression-free survival (PFS; P = 0.003) and overall survival (OS; P = 0.05). Positive pY1234/1235 expression was significantly associated with a longer PFS (P = 0.031) and OS (P = 0.012). In multivariable analyses, tMET and pY1234/1235 expression were independent factors for PFS and OS, respectively. (tMET, PFS; P = 0.02, OS; P = 0.0007 and pY1234/1234, PFS; P = 0.01, OS; P = 0.004).
  
  
  
  This study suggests that total and phosphorylated MET expression in tumor tissue is potentially useful for the selection of NSCLC patients who are likely to benefit from EGFR-TKIs, irrespective of their EGFR status.
authors.affiliation: Division of Hematology and Medical Oncology, Department of Internal Medicine, International St. Mary's Hospital Incheon, Korea; Department of Internal Medicine, Yonsei University College of Medicine Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Hyun
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Yanbian University Hospital Yanji, China.
authors.forename: Xianglan
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Yonsei University College of Medicine Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Byoung Chul
authors.initials: BC
authors.lastname: Cho
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Yonsei University College of Medicine Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Hee Jin
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Yonsei University College of Medicine Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Joo-Hang
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Kim
keywords: Epidermal growth factor receptor; MET; non-small cell lung cancer; tyrosine kinase inhibitor