Different Biomarkers in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer in Blood Vessel Invasion

In clinical settings, lung cancer is divided into small cell lung cancer and non-small cell lung cancer, and chemotherapy is depended on the difference. Using the same chemotherapy treatment, different effects and prognosis can be seen among squamous-cell carcinoma and adenocarcinoma. These differences indicate that there may be various methods of invasion and immunity between squamous-cell carcinoma and adenocarcinoma. Blood vessel invasion and tumor immune escape play very important roles in the progression and metastasis of cancer, and CD105 and integrins are novel therapeutic targets. We assessed the possible association of CD105 expression and integrins with TNM classification in patients with two types of NSCLC. A total of 72 patients with resected Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) were reviewed retrospectively. Integrin β1, β2, β3, and α5β1 are assayed by immunofluorescence and integrin α5β1 using immunoblot. Intratumoral microvessel density was determined with an anti-CD34 mAb and an anti-CD105 mAb. Invasive ability was assayed with MMP2 and MMP9 using immunofluorescence. The expressions of all integrins, CD105, and CD34 are low in the normal lung tissue and highly expressed in the cancer niche compared to the adjacent tissues. CD105 is highly expressed in the adenocarcinoma niche compared to the squamous-cell carcinoma in NSCLC. The expressions of both MMP2 and MMP9 are low in the normal lung tissue and highly expressed in adjacent tissues. This study shows that blood vessel invasion appears to be an independent negative prognosticator in surgically managed types of NSCLC. However, adequately designed large prospective studies are warranted to confirm the present findings.