Zhang Fengyi, Zhang Xinping, Wen Bing, Peng Xiaoqin
Department of Thoracic Surgery, North Sichuan Medical University, Nanchong, Sichuan 637000, P.R. China.
Department of Oncology, North Sichuan Medical University, Nanchong, Sichuan 637000, P.R. China.
Oncol Lett. 2025 Jun 3;30(2):381. doi: 10.3892/ol.2025.15127. eCollection 2025 Aug.
Mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue lymphoma translocation protein-1 (MALT1) promotes cancer development via both cancer cell-intrinsic and -extrinsic mechanisms, and can regulate cancer immunity and immune escape. Therefore, the present study aimed to assess the expression levels of MALT1 in blood samples and the association with clinical features, treatment options and survival outcomes in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from a total of 125 patients with resectable NSCLC prior to treatment (neoadjuvant therapy or surgery) were collected. The mRNA expression levels of MALT1 were detected by reverse transcription-quantitative PCR. Furthermore, the PBMC samples from 20 healthy individuals served as the control group. The results showed that MALT1 was upregulated in the blood samples of patients with NSCLC compared with the control group (~3.4:1 fold; P<0.001). Subsequently, for correlation analysis, blood MALT1 expression levels in patients with NSCLC were categorized into four grades according to the quartiles (Q1, Q2, Q3 and Q4). It was indicated that the MALT1 quartile was positively correlated with the tumor-node-metastasis (P=0.036) and N stage (P=0.026), and it had a tendency to be correlated with poor differentiation (P=0.091) and T stage (P=0.058), but this did not reach statistical significance. However, the MALT1 quartile was not associated with neoadjuvant therapy, surgical type or adjuvant therapy. Kaplan-Meier curves demonstrated that the MALT1 quartile was notably associated with shorter disease-free survival (DFS; P=0.009); however, the MALT1 quartile only showed a tendency to be associated with poor overall survival, but this did not reach statistical significance (P=0.118). Subsequent multivariate Cox analysis showed that the MALT1 quartile could independently predict shorter DFS (P=0.016). In conclusion, the present study suggested that blood MALT1 expression levels could potentially predict the stage of lymph node metastasis and DFS in patients with NSCLC.
黏膜相关淋巴组织淋巴瘤易位蛋白1（MALT1）通过癌细胞内在和外在机制促进癌症发展，并可调节癌症免疫和免疫逃逸。因此，本研究旨在评估非小细胞肺癌（NSCLC）患者血液样本中MALT1的表达水平及其与临床特征、治疗方案和生存结果的相关性。收集了总共125例可切除NSCLC患者在治疗前（新辅助治疗或手术）的外周血单个核细胞（PBMC）。通过逆转录定量PCR检测MALT1的mRNA表达水平。此外，来自20名健康个体的PBMC样本作为对照组。结果显示，与对照组相比，NSCLC患者血液样本中MALT1上调（约3.4:1倍；P<0.001）。随后，进行相关性分析，根据四分位数（Q1、Q2、Q3和Q4）将NSCLC患者的血液MALT1表达水平分为四个等级。结果表明，MALT1四分位数与肿瘤淋巴结转移（P=0.036）和N分期（P=0.026）呈正相关，并且有与低分化（P=0.091）和T分期（P=0.058）相关的趋势，但未达到统计学意义。然而，MALT1四分位数与新辅助治疗、手术类型或辅助治疗无关。Kaplan-Meier曲线表明，MALT1四分位数与无病生存期（DFS）显著相关（P=0.009）；然而，MALT1四分位数仅显示出与总生存期较差相关的趋势，但未达到统计学意义（P=0.118）。随后的多因素Cox分析表明，MALT1四分位数可独立预测较短的DFS（P=0.016）。总之，本研究表明，血液MALT1表达水平可能预测NSCLC患者的淋巴结转移阶段和DFS。
