Tuberc Respir Dis.  2008 Aug;65(2):105-109.

Prognostic Significance of Fascin Expression in Stage I Non-small Cell Lung Cancer

• Roh MS
• Um SJ
• Choi Y
• Kim KN
• Choi PJ
• Lee SK
• Son C
• Yang D

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Fascin is an actin-bundling protein that plays an important role in cellular motility. Fascin is normally expressed in the neuronal and mesenchymal cells and its expression is low or absent in the epithelia. However, an overexpression of fascin has been linked to the invasive behavior of some neoplasms such as breast, stomach and ovarian tumors. In this study, we evaluated the expression of fascin and its prognostic significance in stage I non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
METHODS
Immunohistochemical staining for fascin was performed on the paraffin-embeded tissue sections of 81 cases of resected NSCLC. Staining of more than 5% of the tumor cells was recorded as positive immunoreactivity.
RESULTS
Fascin expression was seen in 73% (59/81) of the cases and this was more frequently seen in squamous cell carcinoma than in adenocarcinoma (93% vs 42%). There were no significant correlations of fascin immunoreactivity with tumor recurrence and overall survival.
CONCLUSION
The expression rate of fascin was relatively high in NSCLC, but this was without prognostic significance. The exact clinical role of fascin should be defined through further investigations.

Keyword

Fascin; Lung cancer; Prognosis

MeSH Terms

Adenocarcinoma
Breast
Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung
Carcinoma, Squamous Cell
Carrier Proteins
Lung Neoplasms
Microfilament Proteins
Neurons
Prognosis
Recurrence
Stomach
Carrier Proteins
Microfilament Proteins

Figure

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  Figure 1 Immunohistochemical stainings for fascin in non-small cell lung cancer. (A) Negative fascin expression (×100). (B) Positive fascin expression (×100).

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  Figure 2 Disease-free survival and overall survival curve according to the expression of fascin in stage I non-small cell lung cancer.

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