Up-regulation of GTSE1 lacks a relationship with clinical data in lung cancer

Lung cancer is one of the most common cancer types that lead to death in cancer patients across the world. Clarification of differentially expressed genes is essential for lung cancer diagnosis and treatment. According to the public cDNA microarray database, we found that GTSE1 is overexpressed dramatically in lung cancer patients' tissues. To further verify the microarray data, quantitative real-time PCR and immunohistochemical staining was undertaken to test GTSE1 expression both at mRNA and protein levels. GTSE1 is up-regulated in lung cancer tissues compared to the adjacent normal tissues, especially in adenocarcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma. The expression profile of GTSE1 was investigated, and the clinical significance and the association between GTSE1 and the overall survival assessed in 246 lung cancer patients. No statistically significant correlation, however, was observed between GTSE1, the clinical features and survival. Thus, GTSE1 may not be a prognostic marker in lung cancers.