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Vol.45 No.3 contents | Japanese/English |
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- Original Article -
Significance of Expression of Collagen XVIII as an Important Prognostic Factor in Non-Small Cell Lung Carcinoma
Toshihiko Iizasa1, Hao Chang1, Makoto Suzuki1, Akira Iyoda1, Kiyoshi Shibuya1, Kenzo Hiroshima2, Yukio Nakatani2, Takehiko Fujisawa1Department of 1Thoracic Surgery, 2Basic Pathology, Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba University, Japan
Objective. Collagen XVIII, a precursor of endostatin, is an extracellular matrix protein that is a component of vascular and epithelial basement membranes. The aim of this study was to determine whether collagen XVIII expression has any prognostic value in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Study design. The authors investigated the expression of collagen XVIII in 306 patients who underwent surgery for NSCLC using immunohistochemical methods. The series of patients consisted of 215 men and 91 women ranging in age from 31 to 85, mean 64.8 ± 9.8 years; 114 squamous cell carcinomas, 179 adenocarcinomas, and 13 large cell carcinomas; 130 stage I cases, 47 stage II cases, 113 stage III cases, and 16 stage IV cases. Results. Collagen XVIII expression was detected in 214 of 306 patients with NSCLC (69.9%). Low collagen XVIII expression levels were found in 119 tumor specimens, while high collagen XVIII expression levels were noted in 95 tumor specimens. The overall 5-year survival rates were 40.3%, 56.5%, and 70.4% in the patients who were strongly collagen XVIII-positive, positive, and negative NSCLC, respectively. The prognosis for patients with strongly collagen XVIII-positive NSCLC or collagen XVIII-positive NSCLC was significantly worse than the prognosis for patients with collagen XVIII-negative NSCLC (P < 0.0001). Multivariate analysis indicated that age, postsurgical stage, T status, N status, and the overexpression of collagen XVIII were independent prognostic factors. Conclusion. Our results indicate that expression of collagen XVIII in tumor tissue is a crucial prognostic factor in NSCLC.
key words: Non-small cell lung carcinoma, Prognosis, Collagen XVIII, Endostatin
Received: December 13, 2004
Accepted: March 22, 2005
JJLC 45 (3): 221-227, 2005
