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J Cancer Res Clin Oncol (2008) 134:10371042 DOI 10.1007/s00432-008-0361-y
ORIGINAL PAPER
Prognostic value of Bmi-1 oncoprotein expression in NSCLC patients: a tissue microarray study
Katerina Vrzalikova Joseph Skarda Jiri Ehrmann Paul G. Murray
Eduard Fridman Jury Kopolovic Petra Knizetova Marian Hajduch Jiri Klein Vitezslav Kolek Lenka Radova Zdenek Kolar
Received: 26 April 2007 / Accepted: 9 January 2008 / Published online: 9 February 2008 Springer-Verlag 2008
Abstract
Purpose Bmi-1 is a Polycomb group member which participates in many physiological processes as well as in a wide spectrum of cancers. The aim of this study was to investigate Bmi-1 expression in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in respect to clinicopathological features and therapeutic outcomes.
Methods Immunohistochemical staining for Bmi-1 was performed on tissue microarrays (TMAs) constructed from 179 formalin-Wxed and paraYn-embedded NSCLC samples (106 squamous, 58 adeno-, and 15 large cell carcinomas).Data were subject to statistical analysis by SPSS.Results Overall evaluation of all tumor cases showed that 20 (11.43%) were negative, 37 (21.14%) showed weak, 65(37.14%) moderate and 57 (32.57%) strong nuclear positivity for Bmi-1. Statistical analysis of our data revealed that the expression of Bmi-1 was signiWcantly higher in stage III (P = 106) and stage IV (P =105) tumors compared to stages I and II tumors. The administration of adjuvant chemotherapy signiWcantly increased DFS at stage I and II patients who did not express Bmi-1 when compared to their Bmi-1 positive counterparts (P = 0.05).Conclusions Our results suggest that Bmi-1 is signiW-cantly associated with progression of NSCLC and might serve as a prognostic marker of adverse disease outcome.
Keywords Tissue microarray Non-small cell lung cancer Bmi-1 oncogene Polycomb genes
Introduction
Lung cancer is the most lethal cancer worldwide due to its high incidence and mortality. More than 75% of lung cancers are NSCLC which are intractable to therapy. Although the only curative treatment provides surgery, resection is only possible in 30% of cases (Jemal et al. 2004; Sandler et al. 2004). The Wrst-line treatment for patients with advanced inoperable NSCLC includes neoadjuvant chemo-therapy and palliative radiotherapy, in stage III usually followed by adjuvant chemotherapy (Silvestri et al. 2005).Despite the introduction of new therapeutic agents and
Katerina Vrzalikova and Joseph Skarda have equal rights.
K. Vrzalikova (&) J. Skarda J. Ehrmann P. Knizetova Z. KolarLaboratory...