Increased high-mobility group A2 correlates with lymph node metastasis and prognosis of non-small cell lung cancer.

BACKGROUND

High-mobility group A2 (HMGA2) has been investigated to be associated with tumorigenesis; however, the expression pattern and clinical significance of HMGA2 in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) remains poorly understood. The purpose of this study is to examine the expression of HMGA2 and to analyze its relationships with respect to clinico-pathological features and patient survival in NSCLC.

METHODS

The expression level of HMGA2 was examined by Western blot and immunohistochemistry in NSCLC cells and tissues. The relationship between HMGA2 expression and survival of NSCLC patients was calculated by a Kaplan-Meier method and the evaluation of risk factor was determined by the multiple regression analysis.

RESULTS

NSCLC tissues exhibited a higher expression level of HMGA2 compared to normal tissues (p< 0.05) and the expression level of HMGA2 was significantly associated with poor differentiation of NSCLC (p< 0.05), lymph node metastasis (p< 0.05) and advanced clinical stage (p< 0.05). Besides, HMGA2 was also confirmed to be elevated in NSCLC cells by Western blot. Moreover, increased expression of HMGA2 correlated with decreased survival of NSCLC patients (p< 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

HMGA2 was highly expressed in NSCLC tissues and cells and its overexpression was correlated with low-grade differentiation, lymph node metastasis, advanced clinical stage and poor survival time of NSCLC, which suggested that it could serve as a potential molecular marker and prognostic index for NSCLC.