http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22418245

Lung Cancer. 2012 Mar 13. [Epub ahead of print]

Napsin A is an independent prognostic factor in surgically resected adenocarcinoma of the lung.

Lee JG, Kim S, Shim HS.

Source

Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea.

Abstract

INTRODUCTION:

Napsin A is regarded as a marker of lung adenocarcinoma. However, no comprehensive analyses of napsin A-positive lung ADCs or the prognostic significance of napsin A expression have been reported to date.

METHODS:

110 primary lung adenocarcinoma cases were analyzed for clinicopathologic parameters, including overall survival, stage, histology, napsin A and TTF-1 expression, EGFR mutation, and ALK rearrangement.

RESULTS:

Napsin A-positive adenocarcinomas were significantly more prevalent among tumors characterized as relatively small (p=0.023), non-solid predominant (p<0.001), non-mucinous/enteric (p<0.001), positive for TTF-1 expression (p<0.001), and positive for EGFR mutation (p=0.001). Multivariate analysis of overall survival demonstrated that the absence of napsin A was an independent prognostic factor for reduced survival time (p=0.002).

CONCLUSION:

Clinicopathologic characteristics associated with napsin A-positive lung ADC are similar to and overlap with those of TTF-1-positve ADCs. The absence of napsin A is an independent poor prognostic factor in surgically resected adenocarcinoma. Further studies are necessary to determine the role of napsin A in the progression of lung adenocarcinoma.