Expression of ETV6/TEL is associated with prognosis in non-small cell lung cancer

The ETV6/TEL gene is a member of the ETS family of transcription factors that has been mainly studied in hematological diseases. This study provides the first investigation of ETV6 expression in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). In this study, ETV6 expression was immunohistochemically studied in 170 consecutive patients with NSCLC. The association between ETV6 expression and clinicopathological parameters was evaluated. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis and Cox proportional hazards models were used to estimate the effect of ETV6 expression on survival. ETV6 expression was observed in 135 of the 170 (79.4%) patients. ETV6 expression was positive for nuclear staining. From the clinicopathological standpoint, the expression of ETV6 was significantly correlated with age (P=0.014). The overall survival was significantly enhanced in the group with a low expression of ETV6 compared with the group with a high expression of ETV6 (five-year survival rates, 56.53% versus 29.88%; P=0.002), and the same finding was obtained for disease-free survival (five-year survival rates, 52.24% versus 30.47%; P=0.001). Multivariable analysis confirmed that ETV6 expression increased the hazard of death after adjusting for other clinicopathological factors (hazard ratio, 2.002; 95% confidence interval, 1.303-3.074; P=0.002). Our study demonstrated that ETV6 was markedly involved in the development of NSCLC and could serve as a potential prognostic marker for this deadly disease.