Clinicopathological significance of non-small cell lung cancer with high prevalence of Oct-4 tumor cells

We measured Oct-4 expression in 113 NSCLC tissue samples and three cell lines by immunohistochemical staining and RT-PCR. The association of Oct-4 expression with demographic characteristics, proliferative marker Ki67, microvessel density (MVD), and expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) were assessed.Oct-4 expression was detected in 90.3% of samples and was positively correlated with poor differentiation and adenocarcinoma histology, and Oct-4 mRNA was found in each cell lines detected. Overexpression of Oct-4 had a strong association with cells proliferation in all cases, MVD-negative, and VEGF-negative subsets. A Kaplan-Meier analysis showed that overexpression of Oct-4 was associated with shorter overall survival in all cases, adenocarcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma, MVD-negative, and VEGF-negative subsets. A multivariate analysis demonstrated that Oct-4 level in tumor tissue was an independent prognostic factor for overall survival in all cases, MVD-negative, and VEGF-negative subsets.Our findings suggest that, even in the context of vulnerable MVD status and VEGF expression, overexpression of Oct-4 in tumor tissue represents a prognostic factor in primary NSCLC patients. Oct-4 may maintain NSCLC cells in a poorly differentiated state through a mechanism that depends on promoting cell proliferation.Despite recent progress in treatment, lung cancer remains the leading cause of cancer deaths in both women and men throughout the world [1]. Not all patients with lung cancer benefit from routine surgery and chemotherapy. This is especially true for those with primary non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), the most common malignancy in the thoracic field, where such therapies have been tried with limited efficacy [2]. To improve patient survival rate, researchers have increasingly focused on understanding specific characteristics of NSCLCs as a means to elucidate the mechanism of tumor development and develop possible targeted therapeutic approaches.Oct