Expression of FHIT gene in precancerous lesions and primary lung cancer tissues / 中国肺癌杂志

<p><b>BACKGROUND</b>Fragile histidine triad (FHIT) gene, a candidate tumor suppressor gene, is recently identified at chromosome 3p14.2, spanning the FRA3B common fragile site. Abnormalities in expression of FHIT gene have been reported in a variety of human tumours including lung cancer. The aim of this study is to investigate the expression of FHIT gene in precancerous lesions and primary lung cancer and to analyze the role of FHIT gene in lung tumorigenesis.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>FHIT protein expression was detected in 298 cases of formalin fixed paraffin-embedded human samples by immunohistochemistry, including 51 precancerous lesions, 161 lung cancer samples, 30 normal lung tissue samples, 23 pulmonary benign lesion tissues and 33 metastatic lymph nodes.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>All the normal lung tissues and pulmonary benign lesions showed positive FHIT protein expression, while the negative rate of FHIT protein expression in precancerous lesions, lung cancer tissues and metastatic lymph nodes was 54.9%, 59.0% and 78.8% respectively. Negative rate of FHIT protein in metastatic lymph nodes, lung cancer tissues and precancerous lesions was significantly higher than that in normal lung tissues and pulmonary benign lesions (P < 0.001). The expression of FHIT gene was closely related to histological classification, cell differentiation, pTNM stages and lymph node metastasis in lung cancer (P < 0.05). A marked reduction of FHIT protein expression was observed in patients with smoking history than that in patients without smoking history (P < 0.01). Furthermore, FHIT protein expression level in lung cancer was associated with survival of patients (P < 0.01).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>These results suggest that FHIT protein expression may occur at early stage of lung carcinogenesis and be associated with the oncogenesis and progression of cancer. The correlation between cigarette smoking and FHIT expression suggests a role of FHIT in the initiation of smoking-related lung tumorigenesis.</p>

Correlation between Akt phosphorylation and loss of PTEN protein expression in non-small-cell lung cancer / 中国癌症杂志

Purpose:To clarify roles of overexpression of phosphorylated Akt(p-Akt) and loss of phosphatase and tensin homologue deleted on chromosome 10(PTEN) expression in biological behavior of non-small-cell lung cancer(NSCLC). Methods:Immunohistochemical staining was used to determine the expression of p-Akt and PTEN in 20 cases of normal lung tissues and 102 patients with NSCLC.Results:Negative p-Akt expression and positive PTEN expression were found in normal lung tissues, while the positive incidences of p-Akt expresssion and loss of incidences of PTEN expresssion in NSCLC were 41.2% (42/102) and 46.1% (47/102)respectivtly.The overexpression of p-Akt and loss of PTEN expression were correlated to degree of differention of cancer, metastasis(including lymph node), and clinical stages. A significant negative correlation was observed between expression of p-Akt and PTEN(Phi r=-0.425,P