Prediction effects of vimentin expression in non-small cell lung cancer metastases

Abstract

Objective To examine vimentin expression in non-small cell lung carcinomas (NSCLC) by using immunohistochemistry to evaluate potential correlations between vimentin expression and the metastase of the patients.Methods 295 cases of NSCLC including 164 cases of squamous cell carcinomas (SCC),108 cases of adenocarcinomas (AC) and 23 cases of other NSCLC carcinomas were examined by using immunohistochemistry.Results Vimentin was indeed detected in 145 cases (49.2％).It was principally present in cells at the tumour/stroma interface.Vimentin expression was significantly associated with the differentiation status of carcinomas.The follow-up of patients further demonstrated that an extensive expression of vimentin (＞50％ of tumour cells) was associated with the occurrence of metastases.Conclusion Our data demonstrate that vimentin expression is a frequent event in NSCLC and that its expression can be associated with the occurrence of metastases positively. Key words: Non small cell lung cancer; Vimentin; Differentiation; Metastases