[hnRNP K expression and its clinical significance in human lung cancer tissues.].

BACKGROUND: There is no any specific criterion in early diagnosis of lung cancer yet. The aim of this study is to determine hnRNP K expression in lung cancer tissues and normal lung tissues and to provide data for the diagnosis and treatment of lung cancer.
METHODS: The expression of hnRNP K was studied by using the SP method of immunohistochemistry in lung tissue samples of 70 cases of lung cancer and 27 cases of control groups.
RESULTS: The positive rate of hnRNP K was 64.9% (76/117) in lung cancer tissues , which was significantly higher than that in control group (33.3%, 9/27) (P <0.001) . hnRNP K was localized in the cytoplasm and/or nucleus. Three subtypes of lung cancer all showed positive staining of hnRNP K protein. The positive rate of hnRNP Kwas 73.7% (14/19) in SCLC and 54.9% (28/51) in NSCLC (P >0.05) .
CONCLUSIONS: hnRNP K can highly express in lung cancer tissues, but it does not correlate with histological classification of lung cancer.