title: The expression of plakoglobin is a potential prognostic biomarker for patients with surgically resected lung adenocarcinoma.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study aimed to explore the relationship between plakoglobin expression and clinical data in the patients with surgically resected lung adenocarcinoma.
  
  
  RESULTS
  With follow-up of median 50.14 months, the average PFS and OS were 16.82 and 57.92 months, respectively. In 147 patients, recurrence or death was observed in 131 patients. According to the log-rank test, low plakoglobin expression was a significant predictor for favorable DFS (P=0.006) and OS (P=0.043). For the analyses within subgroups, high plakoglobin expression was an independent factor for reducing DFS in non-metastatic patients with resected lung adenocarcinoma (P < 0.05). Moreover, high plakoglobin expression was associated with poor DFS even receiving adjuvant chemotherapy (P =0.028) and with a shorter DFS (HR, 2.01, 95%CIs, 1.35 to 2.97, P=0.001) and OS (HR, 1.94, 95%CIs, 1.12 to 3.37, P=0.019).
  
  
  METHODS
  The expression of plakoglobin in 147 primary tumor tissues was examined by using immunohistochemistry and clinical data were collected. The optimal cutoff value of immunoreactivity score (IRS) was calculated and used to divide all the patients into two groups: low-level group (IRS: 0-3, n=59) and high-level group (IRS: 4-12, n=88). Kaplan-Meier curves were applied to assess the plakoglobin expression and clinical variables. The univariate and multivariate Cox model analyses were performed to evaluate the effects of clinical factors and plakoglobin expression on disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  High plakoglobin expression is an independent negative prognostic factor for patients with surgically resected lung adenocarcinoma.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Oncology, Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou, China.|State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Guangzhou, China.|Collaborative Innovation Center for Cancer Medicine, Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Xiaobo
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: He
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Oncology, Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou, China.|State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Guangzhou, China.|Collaborative Innovation Center for Cancer Medicine, Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Ting
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Oncology, Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou, China.|Department of Oncological Radiotherapy, The Fifth Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University, Zhuhai, China.
authors.forename: Guangwei
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Oncology, Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou, China.|State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Guangzhou, China.|Collaborative Innovation Center for Cancer Medicine, Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Wenfeng
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Fang
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Oncology, Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou, China.|State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Guangzhou, China.|Collaborative Innovation Center for Cancer Medicine, Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Zelei
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Oncology, Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou, China.|State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Guangzhou, China.|Collaborative Innovation Center for Cancer Medicine, Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Jianhua
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhan
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Oncology, Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou, China.|State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Guangzhou, China.|Collaborative Innovation Center for Cancer Medicine, Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Yuanyuan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncological Radiotherapy, The Fifth Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University, Zhuhai, China.
authors.forename: Zhibin
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Oncology, Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou, China.|State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Guangzhou, China.|Collaborative Innovation Center for Cancer Medicine, Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Oncology, Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou, China.|State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Guangzhou, China.|Collaborative Innovation Center for Cancer Medicine, Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Hongyun
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Oncology, Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou, China.|State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Guangzhou, China.|Collaborative Innovation Center for Cancer Medicine, Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000378:metabolism*; D002289:Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D015996:Survival Rate; D051185:gamma Catenin / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; C495292:JUP protein, human; D051185:gamma Catenin
keywords: adenocarcinoma; biomarker; immunohistochemistry; plakoglobin; prognosis in surgically resected lung adenocarcinoma