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Clinicopathological implications of EpCAM expression in adenocarcinoma of the lung
Youngwook Kim1, Hyo Song Kim, Zheng Yun Cui
1Medical Nanoelement Development Center, Samsung Biomedical Research Institute, Seoul, Korea.
Background:
The frequency of epithelial cell adhesion molecule (EpCAM) expression was investigated in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cells and human tissues, and its clinicopathological significance in adenocarcinoma of the lung was evaluated.
Materials And Methods:
EpCAM expression was analysed by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and flow cytometry in human NSCLC cells. EpCAM protein expression was evaluated in 234 adenocarcinoma tissues using immunohistochemistry.
Results:
A high expression level of EpCAM was observed in human NSCLC cells by flow cytometry and RT-PCR. EpCAM overexpression was detected in 120/234 (51.3%) surgically resected adenocarcinoma tissues. EpCAM overexpression occurred significantly more frequently in adenocarcinoma than in bronchioloalveolar carcinoma (p=0.02). The overall survival did not differ significantly between EpCAM-overexpressing and EpCAM-negative patients (p=0.40).
Conclusion:
These findings suggest EpCAM plays a role in the carcinogenesis of adenocarcinoma of the lung and might provide a promising molecule for targeted therapy in NSCLC.