Expression Of Subunit P65 Of Nuclear Factor-kB In Non-small Cell Lung Cancer And Its Clinical Significances

Background: Expression of nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-kB) is common in a wide variety of human tumours. The purpose of this study is to investigate detailed expression patterns and its clinical significances of P65, a subunit of NF-kB, in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Methods: Pathological and clinical information of fifty-five patients with NSCLC, which were operated in the first affiliated hospital of college of medicine of Zhejiang University during July1999 and May 2001. Using archival paraffin-embedded tissue blocks, we studied the expression of P65 through immunohistochemical method.Results: Both the cytoplasmic (p<0.0001) and nuclear (p<0. 0001) expressions were statistically high in tumour cells in comparison to adjacent normal epithelial cells. Cytoplasmic expression differed with histology type, sex, smoking status, but not tumour stage. Nuclear staining of P65 had an inverse association with tumour stage. The prognosis of patients with high NF-kB nuclear expression was better than those with low NF-kB nuclear expression.Conclusion: These results suggest that expression of NF-kB may be of clinical significance and nuclear P65 expression have a prognostic value in NSCLC.