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Clinical implications of fibroblast activation protein-α in non-small cell lung cancer after curative resection: a new predictor for prognosis

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Abstract

Background

Fibroblast activation protein-α (FAP-α), which is a serine protease specially expressed on the surface of the cancer stromal cells, plays an important role in the progression and prognosis in diverse malignancies. However, the role of FAP-α in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is still unknown.

Materials and methods

We enrolled 59 NSCLC patients who received complete resection. Sections of paraffin-embedded primary NSCLC specimens of all the patients were stained with antibody directed against FAP-α. Overall, percentage (Grade 0–3) and intensity (0–3+) of stromal FAP-α staining of the tumor were assessed.

Results

FAP-α was detected in >76 % of the specimens examined, and its high expression seemed to be correlated with poor tumor differentiation (P = 0.06). Furthermore, both increased FAP-α staining percentage and intensity were associated with worse overall survival of the patients (percentage, P = 0.0087; intensity, P = 0.05). Higher FAP-α staining percentage was observed in those patients with increased peripheral neutrophil and lymphocyte count ratio (P = 0.034).

Conclusions

FAP-α is highly expressed in cancer stroma and also a predictor of poor survival of NSCLC patients. Elevated FAP-α expression may be associated with inflammation and suppressed lymphocyte-dependent immune response, which then result in the tumor progression. Therefore, FAP-α plays an important role in the progression of NSCLC, and its high expression is a predictor of poor survival. Targeting FAP-α may be a novel strategy for NSCLC therapy.

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Acknowledgments

The work was supported by Provincial Science and Technology Development Planning of Shandong (2011GGH21819) and Provincial Science and Technology Development Planning of Shandong (2012G0021836).

Conflict of interest

The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Thoracic Surgery, Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Shandong University, Shandong University, 324 Jingwu Road, Jinan, 250021, People’s Republic of China

    Yida Liao, Yang Ni & Jiajun Du

  2. Department of Thoracic Surgery, People’s Hospital, Peking University, Beijing, People’s Republic of China

    Yida Liao

  3. Department of Medical Imaging, Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Shandong University, Shandong University, Jinan, People’s Republic of China

    Weidong Liu

  4. Department of Biostatistics, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Ren He

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  1. Yida Liao
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  2. Yang Ni
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  3. Ren He
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  4. Weidong Liu
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  5. Jiajun Du
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jiajun Du.

Additional information

Yida Liao and Yang Ni contributed equally to this work.

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Liao, Y., Ni, Y., He, R. et al. Clinical implications of fibroblast activation protein-α in non-small cell lung cancer after curative resection: a new predictor for prognosis. J Cancer Res Clin Oncol 139, 1523–1528 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00432-013-1471-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00432-013-1471-8

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