PD-1/PD-L1在非小细胞肺癌中的研究进展及展望

PD-1(programmed cell death-1,程序性死亡受体1)与其配体PD-L1(programmed cell death-ligand 1,程序性死亡配体1)属于CD28/B7家族,是一对共刺激分子,具有负性调控作用。PD-1通过与其配体PD-L1结合调节肿瘤的微环境,使肿瘤细胞免于机体免疫系统的监视和清除。目前已有较多研究显示PD-1/PD-L1在非小细胞肺癌组织中的表达水平与患者的临床病理因素及预后存在显著的相关性。在非小细胞肺癌的治疗领域,以PD-1/PD-L1为代表的免疫治疗成为继手术治疗、化疗、放疗、分子靶向治疗之后的新焦点。PD-1/PD-L1抑制剂在一系列非小细胞肺癌临床试验中也显示出了巨大的临床潜力。本文就PD-1/PD-L1的生物学结构及其在非小细胞肺癌中的作用机制、研究进展及展望作一综述。     

非小细胞肺癌胸水细胞块ROS1融合基因检测分析

目的：探讨非小细胞肺癌胸水细胞块在ROS1(c-ros oncogene 1,receptor tyrosine kinase)融合基因突变检测中的临床价值。方法：采用ARMS-PCR法检测215例非小细胞肺癌胸水细胞块和404例非小细胞肺癌组织块中ROS1基因融合的四种类型,并检测细胞块同时送检组织块的患者74例的一致性。结果：细胞块ROS1融合基因阳性7例,阳性率3.26%(7/215);组织块ROS1融合基因阳性8例,阳性率1.98%(8/404);74例有组织块对照的细胞块ROS1融合基因结果一致性有71例,一致率达95.95%(71/74),其中细胞块ROS1融合基因的阳性率2.70%(2/74),组织块阳性率6.76%(5/74)。结论：非小细胞肺癌胸水细胞块ROS1融合基因的阳性率略高于组织块;有恶性胸水的非小细胞肺癌患者原发灶组织发生ROS1融合基因阳性的概率较高。     

Comparability of PD-L1 immunohistochemistry assays for non-small-cell lung cancer: a systematic review

Programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1) immunohistochemistry is used to determine which patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) respond best to treatment with PD-L1 inhibitors. For each inhibitor, a unique immunohistochemical assay was developed. This systematic review gives an up-to-date insight into the comparability of standardised immunohistochemical assays and laboratory-developed tests (LDTs), focusing specifically on tumour cell (TC) staining and scoring. A systematic search was performed identifying publications that assessed interassay, interobserver and/or interlaboratory concordance of PD-L1 assays and LDTs in tissue of NSCLC patients. Of 4294 publications identified through the systematic search, 27 fulfilled the inclusion criteria and were of sufficient methodological quality. Studies assessing interassay concordance found high agreement between assays 22C3, 28-8 and SP263 and properly validated LDTs, and lower concordance for comparisons involving SP142. A decrease in concordance, however, is seen with use of cut-offs, which hampers interchangeability of PD-L1 immunohistochemistry assays and LDTs. Studies assessing interobserver concordance found high agreement for all assays and LDTs, but lower agreement with use of a 1% cut-off. This may be problematic in clinical practice, as discordance between pathologists at this cut-off may result in some patients being denied valuable treatment options. Finally, five studies assessed interlaboratory concordance and found moderate to high agreement levels for various assays and LDTs. However, to assess the actual existence of interlaboratory variation in PD-L1 testing and PD-L1 positivity in clinical practice, studies using real-world clinical pathology data are needed.     

p38MAPK通路调控树突状细胞表达PD-L1的实验研究

目的探讨脂多糖刺激单核细胞源树突状细胞表达程序性死亡因子配体1(PD-L1)与p38MAPK信号通路的关系。方法体外培养树突状细胞,用p38抑制剂SB203580阻断p38MAPK通路后再用LPS刺激树突状细胞。光学显微镜观察各组细胞的形态变化;流式细胞术测定CD86和PD-L1表达的平均荧光强度;Western blot测定PD-L1蛋白表达。结果光镜下观察LPS刺激组细胞先经历梭型贴壁后逐渐恢复圆形,树突较多;SB203580和LPS共同刺激组细胞树突退化,未刺激组细胞成团悬浮,树突较多。SB203580和LPS共同刺激组细胞CD86、PD-L1较LPS刺激组的明显降低(P<0.05或P<0.01),与未刺激组的相比CD86差异无统计学意义,但PD-L1降低(P<0.05)。SB203580和LPS共同刺激组细胞PD-L1的蛋白表达量较其它两组的均明显减少(P<0.01或P<0.01)。结论 LPS通过p38MAPK信号通路调控树突状细胞表达PD-L1。     

ROS1融合基因在非小细胞肺癌中的研究进展

非小细胞肺癌(non-small cell lung cancer,NSCLC)的分子靶向治疗是目前的研究热点,继EGFR、ALK基因等靶点之后不断有新的肿瘤标志物被发现。ROS1基因重排作为一种新发现的NSCLC亚型,其发生率约占NSCLC的1%~2%,优势人群通常为年轻、不吸烟的肺腺癌患者,这些临床特征与ALK重排的NSCLC患者类似。本文将NSCLC中发现的ROS1融合基因的研究进展及其在NSCLC中的临床、功能和结构特征进行阐述。     

膀胱尿路上皮癌中PD-L1和PD-L2的表达及临床意义

目的 探讨膀胱尿路上皮癌(urothelial bladder cancer,UBC)中程序性死亡配体-1(programmed death-ligand 1,PD-L1)以及程序性死亡配体-2(programmed death-ligand 2,PD-L2)的表达及临床意义.方法 采用免疫组化法检测58例UBC组织中...     

Insulin-like growth factor receptor 1 (IGF1R) expression and survival in non-small cell lung cancer patients: a meta-analysis

The insulin-like growth factor receptor-1 (IGF1R) plays an important role in cancer progression. Previous studies have been controversial with respect to the associations between IGF1R expression and non small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) prognosis. Thus, we performed a meta-analysis to investigate the prognostic value of IGF1R expression in NSCLC patients and the relationship between the expression of IGF1R and clinical characteristics. Two independent reviewers searched PubMed, Embase, Ovid Medline and CNKI to identify eligible studies. Overall survival (OS), disease free survival (DFS) and clinicopathological characteristics were collected from included studies. Pooled hazard ratios (HRs) or odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence interval (95% CI) were calculated to estimate the effect. 17 studies comprising 3,294 patients were included in this meta-analysis. The results showed IGF1R positive expression was associated with an unfavorable DFS in NSCLC patients on univariate analysis (HR = 1.26, 95% CI: 1.09-1.46, P = 0.002) and multivariate analysis (HR = 1.49, 95% CI: 1.01-2.20, p = 0.045), but the relationship between IGF1R expression and OS have no significant difference on univariate analysis (HR = 0.91, 95% CI: 0.82-1.01, P = 0.157) and multivariate analysis (HR = 0.79, 95% CI: 0.45-1.41, P = 0.427). Ever smoking and smaller tumor size (T1 or T2) were associated with IGF1R positive expression: pooled OR 1.45 (1.13-1.85) and pooled OR 0.61 (0.60-0.95). Our results suggested IGF1R positive expression as an unfavorable factor for DFS in NSCLC patients, and IGF1R expression was associated with smoking status and tumor size.     

埃克替尼治疗37例晚期非小细胞肺癌疗效分析

目的：探讨埃克替尼治疗晚期非小细胞肺癌(non-small cell lung cancer,NSCLC)的疗效及毒副作用。方法：回顾性分析未行表皮生长因子酪氨酸激酶抑制剂(EGFR-TKI)治疗的晚期NSCLC患者37例,给予盐酸埃克替尼125 mg,3次/d,口服治疗,直到病变进展或不能耐受。随访12个月,评估疗效并观察药物毒副反应。结果：本组37例患者均可评价疗效,客观缓解率(objective response rate,ORR)为56.7%(21/37),疾病控制率(disease control rate,DCR)为84.6%(35/37),中位无进展生存期(median progression free survival,mPFS)为6个月(95%CI：5.27~6.74)。不良反应主要为皮疹和腹泻,多为Ⅰ、Ⅱ度,均可耐受。结论：盐酸埃克替尼治疗晚期肺腺癌安全、有效,不良反应可耐受。     

High expression of E-cadherin in pleural effusion cells predicts better prognosis in lung adenocarcinoma patients

Background: Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is of great importance in tumor metastasis. Our previous study demonstrates that epithelial phenotype is related to epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutation and the sensitivity of EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) in advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. However, the role of EMT phenotype in malignant pleural effusions in predicting prognosis is unknown in lung adenocarcinoma patients. Method: Pleural effusions of lung adenocarcinoma patients were collected and made into cell block (CB). EGFR mutation was detected using amplification refractory mutation system (ARMS) PCR method and H-score system was applied to evaluate the staining intensity of EMT marker and tumor cell ratio. Results: Forty-three CB samples, including 22 samples before any treatment (baseline, group 1) and 21 with disease progression (group 2) after first-line chemotherapy, were enrolled in this study. The expression of N-cadherin and vimentin were low in the CB tumor cells. There was no significant difference in the tumor cell radio and E-cadherin expression in the two groups. E-cadherin expression had no association with sex, age and smoking status and also patient response in both the two groups. However, high E-cadherin expression was related to EGFR mutation (P = 0.032) and long progression-free survival (PFS) (P = 0.015) in group 1 but not group 2 samples. Conclusion: E-cadherin expression in CB samples was associated with EGFR mutation status and patient prognosis in lung adenocarcinoma patients in first-line chemotherapy.     

非小细胞肺癌胸水细胞块c-M ET基因扩增检测分析

目的：探讨非小细胞肺癌胸水细胞块在间充质上皮转化因子受体(c-mesenchymal-epithelial transition,c-MET)基因扩增检测中的临床价值。方法：采用RT-PCR法检测215例非小细胞肺癌细胞块和404例非小细胞肺癌组织块中c-MET基因扩增,并检测细胞块同时送检组织块的患者74例的一致性。结果：细胞块c-MET基因扩增31例,扩增率14.42%(31/215);组织块c-MET基因扩增35例,扩增率8.66%(35/404);74例有组织块对照的细胞块c-MET结果一致性有68例,一致率达91.89%(68/74),其中细胞块c-MET基因扩增率12.16%(9/74),组织块扩增率17.57%(13/74)。结论：非小细胞肺癌胸水细胞块c-MET的扩增率略高于组织块;有恶性胸水的非小细胞肺癌患者原发灶组织发生c-MET扩增的概率较高。     

Expression level of PD-L1 is involved in ALDH1A1-mediated poor prognosis in patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma

ObjectiveTo evaluate the expression levels of ALDH1A1, PDL1, and PDL2 in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) patients, and explore their clinical relevance in prognosis of patients with HNSCC.MethodsImmunohistochemistry of ALDH1A1 and PD-L1/PD-L2 in 85 primary HNSCC patients was carried out. The expression level of PD-L2 was assessed with the modified Moratin’s immune response scoring (IRS) system. tumor proportion score (TPS) was defined as the percentage of viable tumor cells showing partial or complete membrane staining at any intensity. The chi-square test and Fisher’s exact test were used to analyze the associations between ALDH1A1 expression and clinicopathological features. The Spearman’s correlation was applied to analyze the correlation of ALDH1A1 expression with PD-L1/PD-L2 expression.Resultskaplan-Meier analysis showed that the expression levels of ALDH1A1 and PD-L1/PD-L2 were inversely associated with recurrence-free survival (RFS; P = 0.001, 0.014, and 0.023, respectively). Moreover, expression levels of ALDH1A1 and PD-L1 were correlated with poor overall survival (OS; P = 0.002 and 0.039, respectively). Furthermore, multivariate logistics regression analyses demonstrated that expression level of ALDH1A1 was independently associated with shorter RFS (P = 0.013) and poorer OS (P = 0.014) in HNSCC patients, and the expression level of PD-L2 was only negatively associated with RFS (P = 0.041), rather than PD-L1. Spearman’s correlation analysis unveiled that expression levels of PD-L1 and PD-L2 were positively correlated with ALDH1A1 expression in HNSCC patients (P = 0.000 and 0.015, respectively). Especially, the patients with expression levels of ALDH1A1 and PD-L1 had the worst prognosis.ConclusionsOur results indicated that ALDH1A1 is an independent prognostic factor in patients with HNSCC, and the expression level of PDL-1 may be involved in ALDH1A1-mediated poor prognosis in patients with HNSCC.     

Prognostic assessment of apoptotic gene polymorphisms in non-small cell lung cancer in Chinese

Apoptosis plays a key role in inhibiting tumor growth, progression and resistance to anti-tumor therapy. We hypothesized that genetic variants in apoptotic genes may affect the prognosis of lung cancer. To test this hypothesis, we selected 38 potentially functional single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) from 12 genes (BAX, BCL2, BID, CASP3, CASP6, CASP7, CASP8, CASP9, CASP10, FAS, FASLG and MCL1) involved in apoptosis to assess their prognostic significance in lung cancer in a Chinese case cohort with 568 non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. Thirty-five SNPs passing quality control underwent association analyses, 11 of which were shown to be significantly associated with NSCLC survival (P < 0.05). After Cox stepwise regression analyses, 3 SNPs were independently associated with the outcome of NSCLC (BID rs8190315: P = 0.003; CASP9 rs4645981: P = 0.007 and FAS rs1800682: P = 0.016). A favorable survival of NSCLC was significantly associated with the genotypes of BID rs8190315 AG/GG (adjusted HR = 0.65, 95% CI: 0.49-0.88), CASP9 rs4645981 AA (HR = 0.22, 95% CI: 0.07-0.69) and FAS rs1800682 GG (adjusted HR = 0.67, 95% CI: 0.46-0.97). Time-dependent receptor operation curve (ROC) analysis revealed that the area under curve (AUC) at year 5 was significantly increased from 0.762 to 0.819 after adding the risk score of these 3 SNPs to the clinical risk score. The remaining 32 SNPs were not significantly associated with NSCLC prognosis after adjustment for these 3 SNPs. These findings indicate that BID rs8190315, CASP9 rs4645981 and FAS rs1800682 polymorphisms in the apoptotic pathway may be involved in the prognosis of NSCLC in the Chinese population.     

肺癌中PD-L1表达和调节性T细胞浸润的关系及意义

目的：探讨非小细胞肺癌(non-small cell lung cancer, NSCLC)中程序性死亡受体配体1(programmed death receptor ligand 1, PD-L1)表达和调节性T细胞(regulatory T cell, Treg)浸润的关系及临床意义。方法采用免疫组化法检测78例NSCLC组织中PD-L1表达和Treg浸润情况,分析二者之间的相关性及与NSCLC临床病理特征的关系。结果肺癌组织中PD-L1的表达显著高于癌旁组织(52．5% vs 6．4%),肺癌组织中 Treg浸润亦明显高于癌旁组织[(18．63±16．67)个/HPF vs (2．96±2．97)个/HPF]。晚期肺癌组织中PD-L1的表达高于早期肺癌组织(70．0% vs 41．7%),晚期肺癌组织中Treg浸润亦明显高于早期肺癌组织(73．3% vs 35．4%),有淋巴结转移组中PD-L1表达和Treg浸润均明显高于无淋巴结转移组,PD-L1表达和Treg浸润程度与淋巴结转移及临床分期相关(P<0．05)。肺癌组织中PD-L1表达和Foxp3+Treg的浸润密度呈正相关(rs =0．611,F=78．82,P=0．023)。结论肺癌微环境中PD-L1表达和Treg浸润呈正相关,二者可能共同参与肺癌的进展和免疫逃逸。     

Gastrointestinal tract metastasis of lung cancer: The PD-L1 expression and correlated clinicopathological variables

The gastrointestinal tract is a rare site for metastatic lung cancer. Programmed cell death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression in lung cancer is a biomarker for the response to anti-PD-1/PD-L1 therapy. We investigated clinicopathological features and PD-L1 expression in 25 gastrointestinal metastatic tumors from the lung and primary adenocarcinoma of the small bowel. The small bowel was the most common site (16/25; 64%) of gastrointestinal tract lung cancer metastasis. A total of 19 (76%) of the gastrointestinal metastasis showed PD-L1 expression in ≥5% of tumor cells, with 14 (56%) showing high expression levels (≥50%). In contrast, 21 (84%) expressed PD-L1 in ≥5% immune cells, including 4 (16%) showing a high expression levels (≥50%). The PD-L1 expression on tumor cells and immune cells in primary lung cancer and corresponding gastrointestinal metastasis was concordant in 13 (68%) and 11 (58%) of the 19 paired cases, respectively. Small-bowel metastasis of lung cancer was characterized by a higher incidence of perforation (31% vs. 0%), ulcerated mass (83% vs. 60%), and neoplastic PD-L1 expression (75% vs. 0%) compared to primary small-bowel adenocarcinoma. Gastrointestinal metastasis from lung cancer might be a potential target for immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy, given its high expression of PD-L1.     

Clinicopathological significance of PD-L1 expression in colorectal cancer: Impact of PD-L1 expression on pFOXO1 expression

ObjectiveThis study aimed to evaluate the clinicopathological significance of PD-L1 expression and its impact on phospho-Forkhead box O 1 (pFOXO1) expression in colorectal cancer (CRC).MethodsImmunohistochemical analysis for PD-L1 and pFOXO1 was performed on 265 human CRC tissues. PD-L1 expression was evaluated in the tumor and immune cells. The impact of PD-L1 expression on survival was investigated in relation to the pattern of pFOXO1 expression.ResultsPD-L1 was expressed in 25 (9.4%) and 41 (17.7%) patients in the tumor and immune cells of the 265 CRC tissues, respectively. PD-L1 expression in immune cells (I-PD-L1) was significantly correlated with less lymphatic invasion, lymph node metastasis, and distant metastasis and lower pT and pTNM stages. Additionally, there was a significant correlation between PD-L1 expression in tumor cells (T-PD-L1) and tumor location (right colon), but not the other clinicopathological characteristics. pFOXO1 expression was significantly lower in CRC with high I-PD-L1 expression than in CRC with low or negative I-PD-L1 expression. However, there was no significant correlation between pFOXO1 and T-PD-L1 expression in CRC. Patients with positive pFOXO1 and low or negative I-PD-L1 expression exhibited the worst survival among patients with CRC.ConclusionCollectively, our results indicate that I-PD-L1 expression was significantly correlated with favorable tumor behaviors and better survival. In addition, patients with high I-PD-L1 and low pFOXO1 expressions had a favorable prognosis than those with other I-PD-L1 and pFOXO1 expression patterns.     

非小细胞肺癌EGFR基因突变与ERCC1、RRM1、TUBB3 mRNA表达相关性研究

目的：探讨非小细胞肺癌(non-small cell lung cancer,NSCLC)患者表皮生长因子受体(epidermal growth factor receptor,EGFR)基因突变与切除修复交叉互补蛋白1(excision repair cross-complementation 1,ERCC1)、核苷酸还原酶亚单位M1(ribonucleotide reductase subunit M1,RRM1)及3型β-微管蛋白基因(classⅢβ-tubulin,TUBB3)表达的关系。方法：回顾性分析我院经病理诊断的69例NSCLC患者的手术切除的肿瘤标本,利用扩增受阻突变系统(amplification refractory mutation system,ARMS)进行EGFR基因突变检测,应用实时荧光定量PCR检测ERCC1、RRM1及TUBB3 mRNA的表达水平。结果：69例患者中,EGFR突变率为33.33%(23/69),在性别、吸烟史、病理类型组间突变率有显著性差异。ERCC1低、高表达率分别为59.42%(41/69)、40.58%(28/69),EGFR突变与ERCC1表达呈负相关性,EGFR无突变时ERCC1趋向于高表达(P=0.024);RRM1低、高表达率分别为31.88%(22/69)、68.12%(47/69),EGFR突变与RRM1表达无相关性(P>0.05);TUBB3低、高表达率分别为8.70%(6/69)、91.30%(63/69),EGFR突变与TUBB3表达无相关性(P>0.05)。ERCC1、RRM1、TUBB3三者间的基因表达均无相关性。结论：NSCLC患者肿瘤组织中EGFR突变患者ERCC1倾向低表达,这类患者可能更能从铂类化疗和靶向药物中受益。     

Non-small cell lung carcinomas with a minor sarcomatoid component and pleomorphic carcinomas are associated with high expression of programmed death ligand 1

Pleomorphic carcinomas are known to be highly programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) positive non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) types. However, the level of PD-L1 expression in lung carcinomas with a minor sarcomatoid component, comprising less than 10 % of the tumor mass, has not been determined yet. We hypothesized that NSCLC with a minor sarcomatoid component is more closely related to pleomorphic carcinomas in terms of PD-L1 expression than to NSCLC types without sarcomatoid features. The surgical resections from 690 lung carcinoma patients were retrospectively analyzed for the presence of PD-L1 by means of immunohistochemistry using the 22C3 PharmDx assay. The tumor proportion score system was applied to quantify the level of PD-L1 expression. Membranous staining present in ≥ 1 % of tumor cells was chosen as the cut-off to define a positive result for PD-L1 expression. Tumors were allocated into one of four subgroups: “adenocarcinoma”, “squamous cell carcinoma”, “pleomorphic carcinoma”, or “NSCLC with a minor sarcomatoid component”. PD-L1 expression in pleomorphic carcinomas (26/32, 81.3 %) and in the subgroup of NSCLC with a minor sarcomatoid component (35/46, 76.1 %) was identified in a comparable proportion of cases. Pleomorphic carcinomas were significantly more often PD-L1 positive than adenocarcinomas (p < 0.001) or squamous cell carcinomas (p = 0.0015). Accordingly, the proportion of PD-L1 expressing NSCLC with a minor sarcomatoid component was significantly higher than that of the adenocarcinoma (p < 0.001) or squamous cell carcinoma (p = 0.002) subgroup. In summary, we identified a presumable new subgroup of highly PD-L1 positive neoplasms within the NSCLC spectrum that is related to pleomorphic carcinomas in terms of PD-L1 expression. Further investigation regarding genetic relation and mechanism of PD-L1 expression in these two NSCLC categories is recommended.     

PD-L1 expression in vulvar cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Programmed cell death ligand-1 (PD-L1) expression in cancer may predict clinical response to immunotherapeutic treatment with PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors. Within the vulvar cancer field, PD-L1 expression has only been assessed by a few studies. We conducted a meta-analysis to examine the prevalence of PD-L1 positivity in vulvar cancer. PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane were searched for articles reporting on PD-L1 expression in vulvar cancer. Study selection and data extraction were performed independently by two authors. We extracted data on PD-L1 prevalence in vulvar cancer according to combined positive score (CPS) and tumour proportion score (TPS). Cutoff values for positivity were ≥1 or ≥10 for CPS and ≥1% and ≥5% for TPS. Random-effects models were used to estimate pooled PD-L1 prevalence, with 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Tests of between-study heterogeneity were evaluated by the I² statistics. Sources of heterogeneity were explored by subgroup analyses and meta-regression. In total, 19 studies were included. Pooled PD-L1 prevalence in vulvar cancer was 83.4% (95% CI: 70.8–91.3; I² = 80.0) and 53.9% (95% CI: 37.4–69.6; I² = 93.0) according to CPS and TPS, respectively. Based on TPS, human papillomavirus (HPV)-associated vulvar squamous cell carcinomas (SCC) showed a lower PD-L1 prevalence (39.9%; 95% CI: 13.3–74.2) compared with HPV-independent SCC (62.6%; 95% CI: 33.7–84.6), but meta-regression showed no significant variation in PD-L1 prevalence by HPV status. PD-L1 prevalence was similar in advanced (44.9%; 95% CI: 29.8–61.1) and localized vulvar cancer (56.7%; 95% CI: 18.9–76.7). In conclusion, PD-L1 expression in vulvar cancer is frequent but between-study heterogeneity was high. Based on a subgroup of heterogenous studies, we found no strong variation in PD-L1 prevalence according to HPV status and stage.     

miR-185 acts as a tumor suppressor by targeting AKT1 in non-small cell lung cancer cells

Increasing evidence has shown that microRNAs play critical roles in the initiation and progression of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). miR-185 is deregulated in various cancers, whereas its functional mechanism in NSCLC is still unclear. Here, we confirmed that the expression of miR-185 was significantly down-regulated in NSCLC tissues and cell lines. miR-185 over-expression caused significant suppression of in vitro cell proliferation, migration and invasion, and in vivo tumor growth. We subsequently identified that AKT1 was a target gene of miR-185. Re-expression of AKT1 could partially rescue the inhibitory effects of miR-185 on the capacity of NSCLC cell proliferation and motility. Collectively, we conclude that miR-185 has a critical function by blocking AKT1 in NSCLC cells, and it may be a novel therapeutic agent for miRNA based NSCLC therapy.