Yonsei Med J.  2016 May;57(3):549-556. 10.3349/ymj.2016.57.3.549.

Apolipoproteins as Differentiating and Predictive Markers for Assessing Clinical Outcomes in Patients with Small Cell Lung Cancer

• Shi J
• Yang H
• Duan X
• Li L
• Sun L
• Li Q
• Zhang J

• KMID: 2374071
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.3349/ymj.2016.57.3.549

Abstract

PURPOSE
The present study aimed to investigate the value of apolipoproteins, including ApoA-1, ApoC-III, and ApoE, in patients with small cell lung cancer (SCLC) as potential biomarkers for diagnosis, prognosis, and cancer progression.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Lung samples were collected from 89 patients with SCLC. Nineteen lung samples from non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients and 12 normal lung tissues were used as controls. Expression profiles of ApoA-1, ApoC-III, and ApoE in different samples were examined using immunohistochemical methods, and the expression levels were correlated with cancer types, treatment, and outcomes using chi-square and Mann-Whitney tests.
RESULTS
Expression of ApoA-1 and ApoC-III in SCLC was significantly different, compared with that in NSCLC and normal lung tissues, and was correlated with recurrence of SCLC. Patients undergoing neoadjuvant chemotherapy before surgery showed significantly reduced expression of ApoA-1 and increased expression of ApoC-III and ApoE. Nevertheless, the expression levels of ApoA-1, ApoC-III, and ApoE were not correlated with SCLC staging.
CONCLUSION
ApoA-1 and ApoC-III may be used as differentiating and predictive markers for SCLC. ApoA-1, ApoC-III, and ApoE may be used to monitor the efficacy of chemotherapy.

Keyword

Small cell lung cancer; apolipoprotein; biomarker; prognosis

MeSH Terms

Adult
Aged
Apolipoprotein A-I/*genetics
Apolipoprotein C-III/*genetics
Apolipoproteins E/*genetics
Biomarkers/analysis
Case-Control Studies
Female
Gene Expression Regulation
Humans
Immunohistochemistry
Male
Middle Aged
Neoplasm Recurrence, Local
Predictive Value of Tests
Prognosis
RNA, Messenger/*genetics
Small Cell Lung Carcinoma/*diagnosis/genetics
Apolipoprotein A-I
Apolipoprotein C-III
Apolipoproteins E
Biomarkers
RNA, Messenger

Figure

• 

  Fig. 1 Immunohistochemical analysis of apolipoproteins. The expression of ApoA-1 (A-D), ApoC-III (E-H), and ApoE (I-L) in different tissue samples, including SCLC (A, E, and I), adenocarcinoma (B, F, and J), squamous cell carcinoma (C, G, and K), and normal lung tissues (D, H, and L). Brown dots represent stained proteins. SCLC, small cell lung cancer.

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