Journal
VIRCHOWS ARCHIV
Volume 460, Issue 5, Pages 515-523Publisher
SPRINGER
DOI: 10.1007/s00428-012-1230-2
Keywords
NF-kappa B2; p52; RelB; Lung cancer; NSCLC
Categories
Funding
- European Union
- Greek national funds through the Operational Program Education and Lifelong Learning of the National Strategic Reference Framework (NSRF)-Research Funding Program: Heracleitus II
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Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. Although our knowledge on the pathobiology of the disease has increased in the last decades, the prognosis of lung cancer patients has hardly changed. Many signaling pathways are implicated in lung carcinogenesis, but the role of the alternative pathway of nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells (NF-kappa B) in lung cancer pathogenesis and progression has not been investigated. The aim of our study was to investigate the role of this pathway in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. NF-kappa B2 and RelB protein expression was retrospectively assessed by immunohistochemistry in tissue samples from 109 NSCLC patients. RelB and NF-kappa B2 protein levels differed between tumors and adjacent nonneoplastic lung parenchyma. Cytoplasmic immunoreactivity of NF-kappa B2 and RelB was correlated with tumor stage ( = 0.03 and = 0.016, respectively). In addition, cytoplasmic NF-kappa B2 levels were related to tumor grade ( = 0.046). Expression of RelB in the cytoplasm was tumor histologic type-specific, with squamous cell carcinomas having the highest protein levels. Nuclear expression of RelB and NF-kappa B2 differed between tumor and nonneoplastic tissues, possibly indicating activation of the alternative pathway of NF-kappa B in cancer cells. Moreover, lymph node metastasis was related to nuclear NF-kappa B2 expression in tumor cells. The deregulation of the alternative NF-kappa B pathway in NSCLC could play a role in the development and progression of the disease.
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