Significance of expressions of CK19, LunX and KS1/4 in lymph nodes in diagnosis of micrometastases in patients with non-small cell lung cancer

Abstract

Objective To explore the relationship between micrometastasis and CK19, LunX and KS1/4 in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. Methods After nine months' following-up, all the 52 patients were divided into metastasis group and non-metastasis group.20 patients with pulmonary benign diseases were chosen to be control group.Total RNA was extracted from lymph nodes, mRNA was transcribed reversely into cDNA.The expressions of genes including CK19, LunX and KS1/4 were detected according to fluoregenic quantitative real time polymerase chain reaction. Results The concentration of total RNA after extraction was 560-1 420 mg/L, and OD260/280 was 1.650-2.1.The rate of metastasis or recurrent was 34.6% after following-up.The expressions of CK19 mRNA, LunX mRNA, KS1/4 mRNA in lymph nodes of metastasis group were higher than those of non-metastasis group (all P<0.05). Conclusions CK19, LunX and KS1/4 can be used as sensitive markers to predict metastasis or recurrent of NSCLC, make auxiliary diagnosis for micrometastasis. Key words: Non-small cell lung cancer; Micrometastasis; Cytokeratin 19; Lung-specific X protein; Epithelial carcinoma-associated gene