Gelsolin expression and non -small cell lung cancer

Gelsolin is an actin-binding protein that mediates cellular motility and maintains the integrity of cytoskeletal structure. Previous studies have observed decreased or diminished expression of gelsolin in human cancer cell lines as well as in human tumors. Studies on gelsolin and non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) are rare and no consistent results were reported regarding the prognostic effect of gelsolin expression in this tumor. In this study, 189 patients with stage I to stage IIIA NSCLC were included to evaluate: (1) the relationship between gelsolin expression and patient characteristics; and (2) the relationship between gelsolin expression and overall survival in patients with NSCLC. These patients were selected into the current study according to the following criteria: (1) all tumors were primary and were pathologically confirmed; (2) patients had no history of cancer and had no concurrent cancer at diagnosis; (3) patients received surgical treatment at Roswell Park Cancer Institute from 1992 to 1999; (4) pathologic report indicated complete removal of gross tumor upon surgery; and (5) patients survived a minimum of one month after surgery. Immunohistochemistry was utilized to detect gelsolin expression. General level of gelsolin expression (status) and variability of gelsolin expression (pattern) were used to describe gelsolin expression. Epidemiological and clinico-pathological data were retrieved from the Department of Medical Records at RPCI. Chi-square test and Student t-test was used in the descriptive analysis. Cox Proportional Hazards regression was used in the survival analysis to evaluate the prognostic significance of gelsolin expression status and pattern. The results indicated that (1) female patients showed higher prevalence of gelsolin loss than male patients; (2) squamous cell carcinoma showed more variable gelsolin expression than adenocarcinoma; (3) gelsolin loss was not significantly associated with survival in patients with NSCLC; (4) heterogeneous gelsolin expression was significantly associated with poor survival in patients with NSCLC, particularly in patients with stage I and stage II disease, male patients, patients with squamous cell carcinomas, and patients with poorly and moderately differentiated carcinomas. Findings from this study suggest that variability of gelsolin expression might be able to serve as an independent prognostic factor in NSCLC.