Relationship between NOB1 expression and prognosis of resected non-small cell lung cancer

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between Nin one binding (NOB1) protein expression and prognosis for resected non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

A prospective cohort of 70 consecutive patients with resected NSCLC was studied in 2009. Immunohistochemistry was used in the detection of NOB1 protein expression. Prognosis outcomes included overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS). The log-rank test and Cox hazard model were used to estimate the relationship between NOB1 expression and prognosis.

In the 70 NSCLC tissue specimens, 14 (20%) stained -, 24 (34%) stained +, 21 (30%) stained ++ and 11 (16%) stained +++. The NOB1 high expression rate was 16%. NOB1 expression was significantly different between TMN stage (p=0.024) and lymph node metastasis (p=0.001), as well as histopathological grades (p=0.037). Median OS was 43 months (95% confidence interval [95% CI], 35-51 months), and median PFS was 37 months (95% CI, 25-49 months). OS and PFS were related to TMN stage and lymph node metastasis, as well as NOB1 expression (p<0.05). After adjustment for TMN stage and lymph node metastasis, the hazard ratio (HR) for high NOB1 expression was 1.7 (95% CI, 1.1-3.0, p=0.027) for OS, and 1.8 (95% CI, 1.3-3.7, p=0.031) for PFS.

Our results suggest that enhanced expression of NOB1 is related to poor overall survival and progression-free survival in patients with resected NSCLC.