Lyn Expression in Osteoblastic Osteosarcoma Tissues and Its Correlation with Clinicopathologic Factors

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: The Src family kinases (SFKs) are involved in multiple aspects of tumorigenesis, such as, proliferation, migration, and angiogenesis, and are involved in the generation and progression of many types of tumors. Furthermore, dasatinib, a general SFKs inhibitor was recently approved for use in chronic myeloid leukemia. This study was performed to evaluate the expression of Lyn, a member of the SFKs, in osteosarcoma tissues. METHODS: One hundred and sixteen patients with osteoblastic osteosarcoma were selected for Lyn expression analysis. The correlation between Lyn expression in tumor sections and patients' clinicopathologic characteristics and the prognostic significance of Lyn expression were evaluated. RESULTS: Lyn was found to be expressed in 52 of the 116 patients (44.8%), and Lyn positive tumor was found to be significantly associated with a lytic tumor pattern on plain radiographs (p = 0.04). Furthermore, those positive for Lyn showed longer metastasis free survival (5-year metastasis free survival, 65.2% for Lyn positive and 46.8% for Lyn negative; p = 0.06), though this was only marginally significant. CONCLUSIONS: Lyn was found to be overexpressed in osteosarcoma tissues, and this overexpression was found to be correlated with osteolysis.