Expression of cyclin E and cyclin D1 in non-small cell lung cancers

The relationships between overexpression of cyclin D1 or cyclin E and clini copathological factors were investigated in 157 patients with non-small cel l lung cancers (NSCLCs) using immunohistochemical analysis. Fifty-eight cas es of NSCLCs (58/1571 37%) showed the overexpression of cyclin D1, and 64 c ases (64/157, 41%) were positive for cyclin E. Cyclin E and cyclin D1 were infrequently concurrently overexpressed (17/157, 10.8%). Overexpression of cyclin E was more frequently observed in squamous cell carcinoma (29/57, 51 %) compared with that in adenocarcinoma (28/86, 33%) (P < 0.05). In additio n, overexpression of cyclin E was more frequently observed in poorly or mod erately differentiated NSCLCs (52/103, 50%) than in well-differentiated one s (12/54, 22%) regardless of their histological types (P < 0.01). On the co ntrary, there was no statistically significant relationship between cyclin D1 overexpression and histological types or grade of tumor differentiation. These findings suggest that expression of cyclin E was frequently independ ent of that of cyclin DI and played some roles in the grade of tumor differ entiation in NSCLCs. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights rese rved.