The Expressions of pAkt and PTEN in Lung Cancer Patients 24 Hours After the Cisplatin-Based Chemotherapy: A Prospective Pilot Study

Abstract

Akt/PKB is a protooncogen while PTEN is a tumor suppressor gene. Their expressions are of immense importance in the development of lung cancer. However, little is known about their relations to anti-cancer treatments. Therefore, we aimed to elucidate how are these parameters affected by the treatment. Expression of phosphorylated Akt (pAkt) and PTEN have been analysed on tissues of 32 patients (stage III and IV) with lung cancer. In addition, the expression of these variables in 14 out of 32 patients have furtherly been analysed in terms of their response to cisplatin-based chemotherapy in vivo. Prior to and 24 h after the treatment, tumor tissues were obtained via broncoscopy and then evaluated immunohistochemically by indirect streptavidin-biotin peroxidase method. Immunoreactivity for pAkt was detected in 29 of 32 cases (91%). pAkt was observed to localize in the nucleus of positively stained cells. However, PTEN expression was found in 27 of 32 cases (84%). In contrast to the localization of pAkt that is nucleus, PTEN was however localized in the cytoplasm of positively stained cells. pAkt and PTEN expression levels of 14 post-chemotherapy patients were compared to those before chemotherapy. There was no statistically significant differences (p>0.05). Although these results do not imply any possible roles of pAkt or PTEN in the late stage lung cancer patients as a biomarker for the prediction of early response to treatment in vivo, this conclusion needs to be analyzed further at later time points in a larger cohort.