Clinicopathological significance of expressions of PTEN protein in neuroendocrine lung carcinoma

OBJECTIVE:To investigate the expression of PTEN protein in neuroendocrine lung carcinoma and evaluate its clinicopatholigical significance.METHODS:The expression of PTEN protein was detected by immunohistochemistry in 90 cases of neuroendocrine lung carcinoma,and the relationship between the expression of PTEN protein and clinicopathological indices was analyzed.RESULTS:The expression of PTEN protein was 36.7%(33/90)in neuroendocrine lung carcinoma.The positive staining of PTEN protein was mainly localized in the nucleus and partially in the cytoplasm of tumor cells,and the expression of PTEN protein was significantly corresponding to histological type(χ2=9.788,P=0.020),clinical stage(χ2=14.144,P=0.003),lymph node metastasis(χ2=7.278,P=0.007)and prognosis(P=0.039),but not to the sex(χ2=0.227,P=0.633),age(χ2=0.915,P=0.339),tumor size(χ2=0.095,P=0.757)and gross type(χ2=0.329,P=0.566).PTEN expression was an independent prognostic factor,P=0.020.CONCLUSIONS:The loss of PTEN protein may be involved in tumorigenesis and progression of neuroendocrine lung carcinoma.It is suggested that PTEN can be an objective marker to diagnose and prognose the development of neuroendocrine lung carcinoma.