Expression of MDR1-mRNA, MRP-mRNA and LRP-mRNA in patients with non-small cell lung cancer

Abstract

To investigate the expression of multidrug resistance (MDR1), multidrug resistance-associated protein (MRP) and lung resistance protein (LRP) genes in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Expression of MDR1, MRP and LRP genes was detected in 30 NSCLC patients by RT-PCR method. The positive rates of MDR1 expression were 40% and 16.67% respectively in lung cancer tissues and normal lung tissues (P=0.045), and it was not associated with the degree of cell differentiation, histological classification and the clinical stage. The positive rates of MRP expression were 43.33% and 26.67% respectively in lung cancer tissues and normal lung tissues. Its expression was related to degree of cell differentiation (P=0.03), but not to the histological classification and the clinical stage. LRP expression of lung cancer tissues (56.67%) was much higher than that of normal tissues (P=0.0004), and it was not associated with degree of cell differentiation, histological classification and the clinical stage. Of the 30 lung cancer specimens, 7 expressed all the three kinds of genes, and 10 expressed none of them. The coincident rate was 56.67%. The results suggest that MDR1, MRP and LRP gene may play important roles in drug resistance in NSCLC.