Prognostic significance of the expression of apoptosis and mutated p53 protein in non-small cell lung cancer

OBJECTIVE:To investigate prognostic significance of the expressions of apoptosis and its correlated proteins p53 in lung cancer. METHODS:The expression of apoptosis and the positive expression of p53 protein were observed in 111 cases of lung cancer by using the DNA nick end labeling (TUNEL) technique and immunohistochemical staining. RESULTS:In the specimens of 111 lung cancer,the percentage of the samples which expressions of cell apoptosis were equal to or more than 1% was 47.7%(53/111), and the positive rate of mutated p53 protein expressions was 40.5%(45/111). Single factor analysis showed that apoptosis (χ~2=6.77,P0.01), mutated p53 (χ~2=6.56,P0.05), the metastasis of lymph node (χ~2=16.31,P0.01), and TNM stage (χ~2=15.86,P0.01)affected the prognosis of lung cancer patients;Cox model multifactor analysis showed that the size of the tumor (χ~2=4.12,P0.05), the metastasis of lymph node (χ~2=12.94,P0.01) and cell apoptosis (χ~2=4.61,P0.05) were disadvamtage factors to the prognosis of lung cancer patients. CONCLUSION:Apoptosis and the correlated protein p53 are the factors that affect the biology behavior and prognosis of lung cancer patients.