Expression of heat shock proteins HSP70 and HSP27 in primary non-small cell lung carcinomas. An immunohistochemical study

The present study was undertaken to determine the expression pattern of the hsp70 and the hsp27genes in 106 cases of non-small cell lung carcinoma (NS CLC). We have shown that in the majority of cases (95/106) the HSP70 immuno reactivity was localized both in the cytoplasm and the nuclei. We also obse rved an enhanced nuclear immunoreaction for HSP70 in dysplastic lesions and in stage I tumors. In the case of the HSP27 we found a positive cytoplasmi c immunostaining in 70% of cases, with the highest score in squamous cell c arcinoma (SCC). We noted a positive correlation between the expression leve l of HSP27 and HSP70. There was a correlation between Ki-67 proliferation i ndex and nuclear HSP70 staining, but not for HSP27. No association between the HSPs and the. expression of pRb p16 and p21(WAF1/CP1) and p53 was found as studied previously. An interesting and statistically significant relati onship was found between the expression of cyclin DI and high intensity of HSP27 and HSP70 immunostaining. The relation of our results concerning the expression pattern of the HSP70 and HSP27 in NSCLC to those obtained by oth ers for different types of primary tumors is discussed.