Elf-1在非小细胞肺癌中的表达与肿瘤细胞凋亡及患者预后的关系

目的探讨转录因子Elf-1在非小细胞肺癌(non-small cell lung cancer,NSCLC)组织中的表达与凋亡抑制蛋白(inhibitorof apoptosis protein,IAP)家族中最强的凋亡抑制因子survivin关系。方法采用免疫组化PV-9000法检测60例NSCLC组织芯片及9例正常肺组织中Elf-1的表达水平;脱氧核苷酸移换酶(terminal deoxynucleotidy transferase,TdT)介导的dUTP切口末端标记方法(TUNEL)检测癌细胞凋亡指数(apoptosis index,AI)。结果在正常肺组织中有1例Elf-1弱阳性,余为阴性,在NSCLC组织中的阳性率为70.0%,其表达水平与肿瘤细胞分化程度、淋巴结转移、临床分期和术后生存期有关(P<0.05)。Kaplan-Meier生存分析表明其过表达与患者的生存率有关,阳性患者的生存率明显低于阴性患者(P<0.01)。Spearman相关分析显示,Elf-1在NSCLC组织中的表达与AI呈负相关(r=-0.708,P<0.01)。结论 Elf-1在NSCLC组织中的过表达影响着肿瘤细胞的凋亡,与肿瘤细胞分化程度、淋巴结转移和预后有关,检测其表达水平可作为判定NSCLC恶性生物学行为的参考指标。

Expression of Elf-1 in non-small cell lung cancer and its correlationship with prognosis of patients and tumor cell apoptosis

Purpose To investigate the expression of Elf-1 in NSCLC and to explore the relationship between expression of Elf-1 with survivin which is the most effective inhibitor of apoptosis protein(IAP) in non-small cell lung cancer(NSCLC).Methods Power Vision-9000 immunohistochemistry was used to evaluate the expression of Elf-1 in tissue microarray containing 60 specimens of NSCLC and 9 specimens of normal tissue.The apoptotic cells were tested by terminal deoxynucleotidy transferase(TdT) mediated Dutp-biotin nick end labelling(TUNEL).Results Elf-1 was detected in 1 of 9 normal tissues with weak positive,the positive rate of Elf-1 was 70% in NSCLC.The expression level of Elf was significantly associated with tumor differentiation,lymph node metastasis,clinical stage,and postoperative survival time(all P<0.05).Overexpression of Elf-1 was associated with poor prognosis: the survival rate was significantly lower in positive patients than in negative patients(P<0.01).Elf-1 expression in NSCLC was negatively associated with AI(r=-0.708,P<0.01).Conclusion The results show that Elf-1 expression in NSCLC correlates with decreased apoptosis of tumor cells.Detecting of Elf expression can help to predict the malignant behavior of NSCLC.