Abstract 5184: Synaptonemal complex protein 3 is associated with lymphangiogenesis in non-small cell lung cancer

Abstract

Abstract Lymphangiogenesis is a key component for tumor growth and metastasis in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), and is a promising target in cancer therapy strategy. The axis of vascular endothelial growth factor-C (VEGF-C)/VEGF-D/VEGFR-3 is considered to be a major driver of lymphangiogenesis but the detailed mechanism of this process remains unclear. We recently showed that the expression of synaptonemal complex protein 3 (SCP3) is associated with poor prognosis and linked with lymph node metastasis in NSCLC. To investigate the possible lymphangiogenic significance of SCP3 in NSCLC, we assessed SCP3, VEGF-A, VEGF-B, VEGF-C, and VEGF-D expressions in archival tumor tissues from 89 NSCLC patients with lymph node metastasis by immunohistochemical staining. The positive staining of SCP3, VEGF-A, VEGF-B, VEGF-C and VEGF-D expressions were detected in 24 (27.0%), 22 (24.7%), 27 (30.3%), and 24 cases (27.0%), respectively. Notably, we have identified that the SCP3 expression is positively correlated with VEGF-C and VEGF-D (for both, p < 0.001) whereas its expression is negatively correlated with VEGF-A and VEGF-B (p = 0.029 and p = 0.026, respectively). Furthermore, we have also detected the linkage between SCP3 and VEGF-C or VEGF-D expressions in human lung cancer cell lines. In multivariate analysis of patients with lymph node metastasis, SCP3 expression displayed the worse overall survival (HR = 1.86, p = 0.008). These data suggest that SCP3 is linked with lymphangiogenesis and provide insight into the SCP3-VEGF-C/VEGF-D axis based anti-lymphangiogenic therapy strategy. Citation Format: Haruhisa Kitano, Joon-Yong Chung, Jun Hanaoka, Shuhei Inoue, Doki Yoshinori, Junya Fukuoka, Stephen M. Hewitt. Synaptonemal complex protein 3 is associated with lymphangiogenesis in non-small cell lung cancer. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 106th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2015 Apr 18-22; Philadelphia, PA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2015;75(15 Suppl):Abstract nr 5184. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2015-5184