Relation between the serum E-selectin level and the survival rate of patients with resected non-small cell lung cancers.

E-Selectin is an inducible adhesion molecule, which is expressed on cytokine-activated endothelial cells and is thought to interact with cancer cells to initiate metastases. The relationship between serum E-selectin levels and prognoses in 101 patients with resected non-small cell lung cancers (NSCLCs) was studied, and survival curves were compared in relation to E-selectin levels and expression of two carbohydrate antigens, Sialyl Lewisx (SLX) and Sialyl Lewisa (CA19-9), which were immunohistochemically detected in resected specimens in 65 of the 101 cases. The serum E-selectin level on admission was 48.9+/-25.7 ng/ml (mean+/-SD, n=101), and the E-selectin-positive rate was 22.7%, being correlated with the progression of T-factor. The high E-selectin group showed a significantly worse survival rate than the normal E-selectin group. Multivariate analysis confirmed the significant prognostic value of E-selectin. The mean postoperative E-selectin level in 52 cases (36.93 ng/ml) was significantly lower than the preoperative E-selectin level (43.57 ng/ml), indicating that certain NSCLCs might induce the expression of E-selectin. In cases expressing carbohydrate antigens (SLX, CA19-9), the high E-selectin group showed a significantly worse survival curve than the normal E-selectin group. On the other hand, there was no significant difference in the survival curve between the high and normal E-selectin groups when carbohydrate antigens were negative. These results suggest that patients who have high serum E-selectin levels, especially with carbohydrate antigen-positive NSCLC, might be expected to have poor prognoses.