Clinical significance of Ki-67 in patients with lung adenocarcinoma complicated by type 2 diabetes.

BACKGROUND

The increasing number of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients leads to higher rates of morbidity and mortality related to lung cancer.

AIM

To investigate the utility of the proliferating cell nuclear antigen Ki-67 in patients with lung adenocarcinoma (AIS) complicated by T2DM.

METHODS

One hundred patients with AIS and T2DM (group A), 100 patients with AIS alone (group B), and 60 patients with benign lung lesions (group C) admitted to the Department of Thoracic Surgery and Endocrinology of the First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University from November 2021 to December 2022 were enrolled. Ki-67 expression was compared among the groups.

RESULTS

Group A had significantly higher levels of fasting plasma glucose (FPG), total cholesterol (TC), total triglyceride, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c), and insulin than groups B and C ( < 0.01). Meanwhile, group B had higher insulin levels than group C ( < 0.01). Group A exhibited a significantly higher average Ki-67 positivity rate than group B ( < 0.01). The Ki-67 positivity rate in group A was 86.87%, while the positivity rate in group B was 77%. Ki-67 was positively correlated with FPG ( < 0.01) and HbA1c levels ( < 0.01). Ki-67, FBG, insulin, HbA1c, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol and TC were independent factors for patients with AIS complicated by T2DM.

CONCLUSION

Ki-67 expression was higher in patients with AIS complicated by T2DM than in patients with AIS alone. Therefore, detecting the Ki-67 level might assist in the diagnosis of AIS in patients with T2DM.