Expression of Fas (CD95/APO-1) and Fas ligand in lung cancer, its prognostic and predictive relevance

In order to examine whether or not the expression of the apoptosis-related receptor Fas (CD-95/APO-I) and its ligand (FasL) has relevance for patient survival, immunohistochemistry was used to analyze the proteins of both fac tors in 164 non-small cell lung carcinomas. Patients with Fas-positive tumo rs exhibited significantly longer survival times than patients with Fas-neg ative carcinomas. In contrast, FasL did not significantly influence patient survival time. A multivariate analysis of clinical and biological factors indicated that lymph node status and Fas expression were significant progno stic factors. Carcinoma patients who were negative for both Fas and FasL ha d a significantly higher incidence of lymph node involvement than did carci noma patients who were positive for Fas and FasL. Carcinomas that were posi tive for Fas and FasL demonstrated a greater sensitivity to doxorubicin in vitro. Int. J. Cancer (Pred. Oncol.) 84:239-243, 1999. (C) 1999 Wiley-Liss, Inc.