Abstract
Background: Alterations in the PTEN-AKT pathway play important roles indifferent solid carcinomas, e. g. of the breast, prostate and GI-tract. Since contradictory results have been reported for lung cancer mostly studying only one of the two proteins, we aim to elucidate the biological effects of alterations in this pathway in a large and well characterized cohort of non-small cell lung cancer.Material and Methods: We established an immunohistochemical double stain for PTEN and p-AKT in non-small cell lung carcinomas (NSCLC). This was applied to tissue-microarrays (TMA) including 44 patients.Results: Our results indicate, that not only alterations in one marker are of biological significance but rather the combination of PTEN-loss and p-AKT overexpression, as well as the intracellular localization of the protein staining. Patients with low-grade histological differentiation, negative lymphonodal status and PTEN-expression showed a significant better overall survival.Conclusion: We conclude, that PTEN-(over-)expression leads to p-AKT downregulation with better overall survival in nodal negative NSCLC patients.Virtual Slides:
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