The Clinical Significance Of FATS Expression In Non Small Cell Lung Cancer

ObjectiveFATS is a newly identified tumor suppressor gene involved in DNA-damage-induced tumorigenesis. The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinical significance of FATS in non small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).MethodsClinical samples of NSCLC were retrospectively collected from patients (n=89) who underwent surgical resection between May2003and October2007at Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute and Hospital (TMUCIH). All of the lung cancer samples were pathologically validated as NSCLC. FATS gene expression was determined using quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR).ResultsThe expression of FATS mRNA was silent or downregulated in all of NSCLC samples compared with paired normal controls (n=89, P=0.001). Strikingly, the average level of FATS mRNA (2.59E-05) in NSCLC was more than1000-fold decreased than that in matched normal lung tissues (1.53E-01), further indicating the tumor suppressor nature of FATS.According to the results of quantitative RT-PCR,89tumor samples were divided into two groups, based on the cut-off value (4.57E-04) determined by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. No significant differences were found between the mRNA level of FATS and age, gender, histology, tumor size or clinical stage (P>0.05).We further examined the clinical outcomes according to FATS expression levels in two subgroups (FATS-low and-high). Low level of FATS mRNA expression was correlated with poor overall survival in NSCLC (P=0.030), according to Kaplan-Meier log rank analysis. For those NSCLC patients receiving cisplatin-based chemotherapy, the overall survival was significantly longer in FATS-high subgroup than that in FATS-low subgroup (P=0.038). Multivariate analysis disclosed that FATS expression was an independent prognostic factor in NSCLC (OR,2.250; 95%CI,1.054to4.805; P=0.036), and possessed the value in predicting response to cisplatin-based chemotherapy (OR,2.283;95%CI,1.022to5.099; P=0.044).ConclusionThe expression of FATS mRNA was silent or downregulated in NSCLC samples in comparison with paired normal controls, demonstrating that FATS is significantly involved in NSCLC. Our results suggest that quantitative measurement of FATS mRNA may be beneficial to predict the clinical outcome of patients with NSCLC.