Original Article


Expressions of Osteopontin (OPN), ανβ3 and Pim-1 Associated with Poor Prognosis in Non-small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC)

Yi Jin, Da-yue Tong, Lu-ying Tang, Jian-ning Chen, Jing Zhou, Zhi-ying Feng, Chun-kui Shao

Abstract

objective: To examine the expressions of osteopontin (OPN), ανβ3 and Pim-1 in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), and investigate their potential pathogenic roles in the development of NSCLC.
Methods: Immunohistochemistry was used to examine the expressions of OPN, ανβ3 and Pim-1 in cohort (136 cases) of NSCLC samples and their adjacent normal lung tissue specimens. Statistical analysis was performed to evaluate the relationships among expressions of OPN, ανβ3 and Pim-1 and their associations with patients clinicopathological parameters.
Results: The expressions of OPN and Pim-1 were predominantly observed in cytoplasm. The expression of ανβ3 was mostly detected in cytoplasm and/or membrane. In NSCLC samples, the positive rates of OPN, ανβ3 and Pim-1 expressions were 68.4% (93/136), 77.2% (105/136) and 57.4% (78/136), respectively. In normal lung tissues, in contrast, the positive rates of OPN, α  β3 and Pim-1 were 24.0% (12/50), 26.0% (13/50) and 16.0% (8/50), respectively. There were significant differences of the positive expression rates of OPN, ανβ3 and Pim-1 between NSCLCs samples and normal lung tissues (P<0.01). In addition, the positive expression of OPN, ανβ3 and Pim-1 in NSCLCs samples was significantly associated with increased pathological grade, lymph node metastasis and advanced clinical stage (P<0.01), and they were independent of other clinicopathological parameters (P>0.05). Furthermore, a significantly positive correlation between the expression of OPN and ανβ3 (r=0.38, P<0.01), OPN and Pim-1 (r=0.37, P<0.01), or ανβ3 and Pim-1 (r=0.20, P<0.05) was evaluated in our NSCLC cohort.
Conclusion: OPN, ανβ3 and Pim-1 proteins are frequently overexpressed in NSCLC, and they may play important roles in the development and/or progression of NSCLC.