High expression of ΔNp73 predicts poor prognosis in NSCLC cancer patients

Abstract

Objective To study the expression of ΔNp73, an isoform of the p53 homologue p73, in the different stages of human non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and the association of ΔNp73 expression with in patient survival. Methods Semi-quantitative reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was used to study the expression of ΔNp73 mRNA in 51 resected NSCLC tissues. Its relation to clinicopathological factors and survival outcome were analyzed. Results The positive rate and expression level of ΔNp73 mRNA in the cancer tissues were significantly higher than that in the matched non-cancer lung tissues. The incidence of positive expression of ΔNp73 was 50.0%, 52.6%, and 87.5% in patients with stage 1, 1. and II, respectively, Positive expression of ΔNp73 was associated with pathological TNM stage ( P = 0.046), while not with age, gender, histological type and differentiation status. Survival rate of patients with high ΔNp73 mRNA was significantly poorer than those with low ΔNp73 mRNA levels ( P<0.001). Multivariate analysis revealed that ΔNp73 mRNA levels were a significant prognostic factor, independent of the other conventional prognostic factors. Conclusion NSCLC has over-expression of ΔNp73 mRNA, which is closely related to TNM stages and prognosis of patients with NSCLC. These results suggest that measurement of ΔNp73 mRNA levels in tumor tissues might be useful as a promising predictor for the prognosis of patients with NSCLC.