title: Prognostic significance of circulating laminin gamma2 for early-stage non-small-cell lung cancer.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Laminin gamma2 (Ln-γ2) chain, a distinctive subunit of heterotrimeric laminin-332, is frequently upregulated in carcinomas and is of great importance in cell migration and invasion. Despite this, the status of circulating Ln-γ2 in lung cancer patients is still uncertain.
  
  
  METHODS
  In this retrospective study, serum samples from 538 all-stage (stages I-IV) patients with non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and 94 age-matched healthy volunteers were investigated by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Data were statistically analyzed in combination with clinicopathological information.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Circulating Ln-γ2 was markedly increased in NSCLC, even in stage I cases (P<0.01), reflecting the progression of lung cancer. Survival analysis on 370 eligible patients indicated that serum Ln-γ2-negative patients survived much longer compared with Ln-γ2-positive individuals (P=0.028), and it was especially the case for stage I (P<0.001), stage T1 (P=0.001), and stage N0 patients (P=0.038), all of whom represented early-stage cases. For the advanced patients, however, overall survivals were not significantly different among stages II-IV (P=0.830), stages T2-T4 (P=0.575), stages N1-N3 (P=0.669), and stage M1 (P=0.849). Cox analysis subsequently defined serum Ln-γ2 as an independent prognostic indicator of NSCLC, particularly for early-stage patients. Furthermore, we demonstrated the association of serum Ln-γ2 with smoking behavior, but its association with tumor progression and early prognostic significance were not altered in the nonsmoking cohort.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our study demonstrated that elevation of circulating Ln-γ2 was an early-emerging event in NSCLC and was significantly associated with poor prognosis in NSCLC, especially for early-stage cases.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cellular and Molecular Biology, Beijing Chest Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing Tuberculosis and Thoracic Tumor Research Institute, Beijing, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Yu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Teng
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic Surgery, Beijing Chest Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Zitong
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Cellular and Molecular Biology, Beijing Chest Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing Tuberculosis and Thoracic Tumor Research Institute, Beijing, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.affiliation: Department of Cellular and Molecular Biology, Beijing Chest Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing Tuberculosis and Thoracic Tumor Research Institute, Beijing, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Lina
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Cellular and Molecular Biology, Beijing Chest Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing Tuberculosis and Thoracic Tumor Research Institute, Beijing, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Yinan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.affiliation: Department of Cellular and Molecular Biology, Beijing Chest Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing Tuberculosis and Thoracic Tumor Research Institute, Beijing, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Meng
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gu
authors.affiliation: Department of Cellular and Molecular Biology, Beijing Chest Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing Tuberculosis and Thoracic Tumor Research Institute, Beijing, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Ziyu
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Cellular and Molecular Biology, Beijing Chest Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing Tuberculosis and Thoracic Tumor Research Institute, Beijing, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Yue
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Cellular and Molecular Biology, Beijing Chest Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing Tuberculosis and Thoracic Tumor Research Institute, Beijing, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Wentao
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Yue
keywords: circulation; early stage; laminin gamma2; non-small-cell lung cancer; prognosis