Expression of endothelin-1 in lung cancer tissues

Objective: To study the endothelin-1(ET-1) expression in lung cancer and its correlation with the tumor type and grade.Methods: ET-1 expression was detected by avidin-biotin-peroxidase complex method and image analysis technology.Results: The positive expression of ET-1 was mainly located in the cytoplasm in 104 lung cancer tissues.The positive rates of ET-1 in adenocarcinoma,squamous-cell carcinoma and large-cell lung cancer were 74.1%,57.1% and 40.0%,respectively.The positive rate of ET-1 in small-cell lung cancer was 21.4%,significantly lower than that in nonsmall-cell lung cancer.The result of image analysis on adenocarcinomaand squamous-cell carcinoma showed that the lower tumor differentiation,the higher ET-1 expression level.Conclusion:The ET-1 expression level may be related to the differentiation degree of lung cancer.