PROGNOSTIC ROLE OF CYCLIN D1 IN NON-SMALL-CELL LUNG-CANCER - AN IMMUNOHISTOCHEMICAL ANALYSIS

Lung cancer is a worldwide problem and in many countries it is the mos t lethal malignancy. Because relapse is frequent after resection of no n small cell lung cancer, an urgent need exists to define prognostic f actors which could help in choosing the best therapeutic approach. We performed immunohistochemistry on 60 formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded non small cell lung cancer specimens in order to evaluate the frequenc y of cyclin D1 overexpression, and to relate it to the degree of malig nancy of these tumors and to the overall survival time of the patients . All specimens were positive for cyclin D1 immunostaining. We found c yclin D1 overexpression in 30 (50%) of our specimens, with no signific ant difference among the different histological types. Cyclin D1 overe xpression correlates in a statistical manner with short-term patient s urvival. Mantel-Cox analysis of these data generated a significant p v alue=0.003. The mean survival time and the five-year survival rate als o differed statistically. We did not find any statistically significan t correlation between cyclin D1 overexpression and histological gradin g, tumor stage or TNM status. We concluded that cyclin D1 overexpressi on in 30 patients is a frequent event in non small cell lung cancer pa thogenesis and may have prognostic relevance.