Abstract
BackgroundThe expression of novel oncogenic kinase (NOK), a member of the protein tyrosine kinase (PTK) family, has been observed in several human malignancies including non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). However, the clinic relevance of NOK expression in NSCLC remains unclear.MethodsIn this study, NOK expression in tumor cells was assessed using immunohistochemical methods in 191 patients with resected NSCLC. The association of NOK expression with clinicopathological parameters, including the Ki-67 labeling index (LI), was also evaluated. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis and Cox proportional hazards models were used to estimate the effect of NOK expression on survival.ResultsData showed that NOK was expressed in 75.4% and 14.1% of cancer lesions and corresponding adjacent non-cancerous tissue, respectively. Out of all the clinicopathological factors analyzed, NOK expression was significantly correlated with the grade of tumor differentiation (P = 0.035), pTNM stage (P = 0.020), lymphatic metastasis (P = 0.005) and high Ki-67 LI (P < 0.001). NOK positive NSCLC patients had a significantly shorter survival time (P = 0.004, Log-rank test) and the prognostic significance of NOK expression was apparent in squamous cell carcinoma patients (P = 0.022). Multivariate analysis indicated that NOK expression may be an independent prognostic factor in NSCLC (hazard ratio [HR], 1.731; P = 0.043).ConclusionsOur results indicate that NOK expression is of clinical significance and can serve as a prognostic biomarker in NSCLC.
Highlights
The expression of novel oncogenic kinase (NOK), a member of the protein tyrosine kinase (PTK) family, has been observed in several human malignancies including non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC)
To study the clinicopathologic features and prognostic implications of NOK expression in patients with NSCLC, we investigated the expression of NOK in NSCLC by immunohistochemical staining and assessed the relationships between NOK expression and clinical parameters
In order to evaluate the role of NOK in NSCLC, we investigated whether NOK expression was associated with any of the clinicopathological variables (Table 1)
Summary
The expression of novel oncogenic kinase (NOK), a member of the protein tyrosine kinase (PTK) family, has been observed in several human malignancies including non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Novel oncogenic kinase (NOK), known as a putative serine/threonine and tyrosine receptor protein kinase (STYK) 1, was identified as a new member of the protein tyrosine kinase (PTK) family by Liu et al [4,5]. It has a single putative transmembrane domain and an intracellular domain possessing tyrosine kinase activity but lacks an extracellular domain for binding specific ligands. A recent report indicates NOK is functionally involved in
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