Prognostic Significance of Intracellular Laminin and Her2/neu Overexpression in Non-small Cell Lung Cancer

Abstract

This study was designed to test the hypothesis that Her2/neu expression, the level of intracellular laminin and Ki-67 index are of prognostic importance in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The second aim of the study was to analyse the efficiency of post-operative radiotherapy in the group of patients treated at our hospital. Materials and Methods: Tumor tissue samples were obtained from 64 patients with primary NSCLC, who were operated on and post-operatively irradiated. Immunohistochemical analyses were performed on paraffin blocks of resected lung tissue. Survival of the patients was calculated on the basis of 5-year follow up. Results: From among the analysed factors only the enhanced expression of intracellular laminin, histological grade 3, adenocarcinoma type of cancer and statistically important radiotherapy parameters influenced patient survival. The influence of Her2/neu expression on survival almost reached statistical significance. In multivariate Cox analyses only the level of the intracellular laminin, overexpression of Her2/neu and dose time ratio (DTR) were found to be the independent risk factors for patients survival. Conclusion: Enhanced expression of intracellular laminin, Her2/neu overexpression and interruptions during post-operative radiotherapy are detrimental for survival in patients with NSCLC.