Angiostatin expression in non-small cell lung cancer

Angiostatin, a potent inhibitor of angiogenesis, tumor growth, and metastas is, was examined in a panel of human lung cancer cell lines with Western bl ot analysis and in 143 primary non-small cell lung carcinomas with immunohi stochemistry. Thirty-four of 143 cases (24%) stained positively. Patients w ith angiostatin-positive tumors survived longer (146 weeks) than patients w ith angiostatin-negative tumors (77 weeks; log-rank test: P = 0.07; rank-su m test: P = 0.02), To determine whether combining stimulating and inhibitin g factors might improve the prognostic capability, both angiostatin and vas cular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) were analyzed together with respect to patient survival. The median survival time of patients with angiostatin- positive/ VEGF-negative carcinomas was 184 weeks, whereas the median surviv al time of patients with angiostatin-negative! VEGF-positive tumors was onl y 52 weeks, The angiostatin-positive tumors exhibited an increased incidenc e of apoptosis and a reduced capability to be transplanted into nude mice, but these differences did not reach or were only of borderline statistical significance.