Abstract
Brain metastases from NSCLC are associated with a poor prognosis, and local radiotherapy is the most effective therapeutic strategy. The oncofetal protein IMP3 has been studied extensively, and evidence suggests that its expression is related to shorter overall survival and a more aggressive phenotype in solid malignancies. Here, the prognostic role of IMP3 was investigated in a cohort of patients with NSCLC brain metastases in correlation with survival and tumor histotype. A series of 42 NSCLC brain metastases samples was analyzed by tissue microarray and immunohistochemical staining for IMP3. IMP3 expression was associated with shorter overall survival in the whole series and in subgroups of metastases from non-neuroendocrine pulmonary malignancies and adenocarcinoma metastases. These results indicated that IMP3 is a strong prognostic factor in non-neuroendocrine brain metastases and in particular in patients with adenocarcinoma metastases.
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Funding
This work was supported by the Italian Minister of Health (GR2011-02351626 to VV) and the Ricerca Corrente 2017 program (to SF). AM is supported by fellowship from the Doctorate School of Molecular and Translational Medicine at the University of Milan.
Author contribution
ADG drafted the work and interpreted patients’ data; AEC, AM, EGR, and VV interpreted patients’ data and critically revised the manuscript; SF supervised the work and critically revised the manuscript; AP, ML, and ADC collected and interpreted clinical data; CP and EB performed molecular analyses, analyzed data, and critically revised the manuscript; GE performed immunohistochemistry, analyzed data, and critically revised the manuscript. All the authors ensured that the work was appropriately performed and resolved and approved the final draft of the manuscript.
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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
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All the co-authors declare that all patients involved in this study gave their informed written consent, and the institute’s ethical regulations on research on human tissues were followed, according to the Helsinki Declaration. This study was approved by the Fondazione IRCCS Ca’ Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico Review Board (Ethical Committee Milano Area 2, protocol no. 275/2013), and patients informed consents were obtained by all subjects enrolled in the study.
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Del Gobbo, A., Morotti, A., Colombo, A.E. et al. IMP3 expression in NSCLC brain metastases demonstrates its role as a prognostic factor in non-neuroendocrine phenotypes. Med Oncol 35, 2 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12032-017-1062-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12032-017-1062-7