Department of Cellular and Molecular Biology, Beijing TB and thoracic tumor research Institution/Beijing Chest Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing 101149, China.
Lung Cancer. 2013 Nov;82(2):346-52. doi: 10.1016/j.lungcan.2013.08.017. Epub 2013 Sep 5.
Fascin, a conserved actin bundling protein family member, is frequently up-regulated in various cancer types, including non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), and it plays increasingly important roles in the progression of tumor invasion and metastasis. However, variations in the serum fascin level in tumor patients are usually neglected.
In the present study, serum samples from 501 stage I-IV NSCLC patients and 109 healthy volunteers were investigated by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.
The serum fascin level was markedly increased in the NSCLC patients (P < 0.05), particularly in advanced cases (P < 0.01), compared with that in the healthy controls. We also found that the serum fascin level was significantly correlated with female sex (P = 0.02), non-smoking status (P = 0.044), and adenocarcinoma histology (P < 0.001), with a higher positive rate relative to each counterpart. Furthermore, our results suggested that the serum fascin level reflects the aggressive progress of both lymphatic (P < 0.001) and distant (P < 0.001) metastases in NSCLC. A survival analysis of 283 eligible patients who underwent a follow-up examination after 3 years revealed that the patients in the serum fascin-positive group had a significantly lower overall survival rate compared with those in the negative group for 134 non-distant metastatic (stage M0) cases (P = 0.044). A subsequent Cox regression analysis revealed that the serum fascin level was an independent prognostic factor for M0-stage NSCLC (univariate, P = 0.001; multivariate, P = 0.038).
Our study suggests that the serum fascin level is an effective indicator of tumor aggressiveness, and that it plays an important role in the prognosis of NSCLC, particularly for non-distant metastatic patients.
Fascin 是一种保守的肌动蛋白束集蛋白家族成员，在多种癌症类型中经常上调，包括非小细胞肺癌 (NSCLC)，并且在肿瘤侵袭和转移的进展中发挥着越来越重要的作用。然而，肿瘤患者血清 fascin 水平的变化通常被忽视。
本研究采用酶联免疫吸附试验检测了 501 例 I-IV 期 NSCLC 患者和 109 例健康志愿者的血清样本。
与健康对照组相比，NSCLC 患者的血清 fascin 水平明显升高（P<0.05），尤其是晚期病例（P<0.01）。我们还发现，血清 fascin 水平与女性（P=0.02）、不吸烟（P=0.044）和腺癌组织学（P<0.001）显著相关，与各自的对照相比，其阳性率更高。此外，我们的结果表明，血清 fascin 水平反映了 NSCLC 中淋巴（P<0.001）和远处（P<0.001）转移的侵袭性进展。对 283 例接受 3 年后随访检查的合格患者进行生存分析显示，血清 fascin 阳性组的总生存率明显低于阴性组，对于 134 例无远处转移（M0 期）病例（P=0.044）。随后的 Cox 回归分析显示，血清 fascin 水平是非 M0 期 NSCLC 的独立预后因素（单因素，P=0.001；多因素，P=0.038）。
我们的研究表明，血清 fascin 水平是肿瘤侵袭性的有效指标，在 NSCLC 的预后中起着重要作用，特别是对于无远处转移的患者。
