Increased fatty acid synthase activity in non-small cell lung cancer tissue is a weaker predictor of shorter patient survival than increased lipoprotein lipase activity.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS

Cumulative evidence suggests the involvement of fatty acid synthase (FAS) in tumor growth. We tested the hypothesis that increased FAS activity and gene expression in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) tissue have a prognostic significance that is independent of that of increased lipoprotein lipase (LPL) activity in the same tissue.

METHODS

Forty two consecutive patients with resected NSCLC were enrolled in the study. Paired samples of lung cancer tissue and adjacent non-cancer lung tissue were collected from resected specimens for estimation of FAS activity and expression of its gene. LPL activity had previously been measured in the same tissues. During a 4-year follow-up, 21 patients died due to tumor progression. One patient died due to a non-cancer reason and was not included in the analysis.

RESULTS

High FAS activity in cancerous tissue relative to that in the adjacent non-cancer lung tissue was associated with weight loss in the 3 months immediately before tumor excision and patient death during the follow-up. Higher FAS activity in the cancer tissue was associated with higher LPL activity in the same tissue, which also predicted shorter patient survival, but LPL was the stronger predictor. FAS gene expression was higher in the adjacent non-cancer tissue than in the cancer tissue but had no predictive value.

CONCLUSION

Our study further underlines the involvement of cancer tissue FAS activity in tumor growth but also indicates its weaker importance compared to LPL activity.