Relationship between expression of sialyl Lewis x antigen and clinicopathologial features and prognosis of stage I non small cell lung cancer

Abstract

Immunohistochemical expression of sialyl-Lewis x carbohydrate antigen (sLe^x) was examined in relation to clinicopathological factors and prognosis in 66 patients with stage I non -small cell lung cancer, who underwent surgical resection. There were 36 adenocarcinoma, 24 squamous cell carcinoma, 3 large cell carcinoma and 3 adenosquamous cell carcinoma. A significant difference was detected in the expression of sLe^x between adenocarcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma.
The incidence of sLe^x positive was not related to the histological differentiation or vascular invasion, but tumor with strong expression of sLe^x showed high frequency of recurrence of distant organs. Though vascular invasion and the expression of sLe^x were not significant prognostic factors by univariate analysis, those who was both positive for vascular invasion and high eypression of sLe^x had a worse prognosis. It is concluded that combined vascular invasion with expression of sLe^x may be a useful predictor of survival.