Yangyang Liu1, Donglai Chen2, Xie Qiu1, Shanzhou Duan1, Yongsheng Zhang3, Feng Li3, Chang Chen2, Yiting Zhou4, Yongbing Chen5. 1. Department of Thoracic Surgery, the Second Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou, China. 2. Department of Thoracic Surgery, Shanghai Pulmonary Hospital, Tongji University, School of Medicine, Shanghai, China. 3. Department of Pathology, the Second Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou, China. 4. Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Medical College of Soochow University, Suzhou, China. 5. Department of Thoracic Surgery, the Second Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou, China. Electronic address: chentongt@sina.com.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To characterize the relationship between metastasis-associated protein 1 (MTA1) and spread through air spaces (STAS), and to investigate the joint prognostic value of MTA1 and STAS in resected lung adenocarcinomas. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed 208 operated patients with stage I-III lung adenocarcinoma from January 2009 to December 2014. STAS was identified by H&E staining. Expression level of MTA1 was determined by immunohistochemistry. The relationship between MTA1 and STAS was determined by using a logistic regression model. The synergistic effects of MTA1 and STAS on prognosis were analyzed using a Cox proportional hazards regression model. RESULTS: Patients with either STAS or high expression of MTA1 had significantly worse overall survival (OS) and shorter recurrence-free survival (RFS) than those without STAS or with low expression of MTA1 (p < 0.001). Among 107 patients with STAS presence in lung adenocarcinomas, 57 (53.3%) cases had high expression of MTA1. High expression of MTA1 was positively associated with the increased frequency of STAS presence (p < 0.01). Subgroup analysis showed that the patients with both high expression of MTA1 and STAS-positive presence had significantly worst OS and shortest RFS compared with the others (p < 0.001), while the patients with high expression of MTA1 /STAS-negative presence shared similar RFS with those with high expression of MTA1 /STAS-positive presence. Furthermore, high MTA1 levels in STAS-positive patients was associated with a higher risk of postoperative metastasis and recurrence (p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: STAS was more frequently observed in adenocarcinomas with high MTA1 expression levels. MTA1 was associated with a higher risk of worse overall survival among patients with STAS and could provide helpful prognostic information in STAS-positive patients with stage I-III lung adenocarcinoma.
OBJECTIVE: To characterize the relationship between metastasis-associated protein 1 (MTA1) and spread through air spaces (STAS), and to investigate the joint prognostic value of MTA1 and STAS in resected lung adenocarcinomas. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed 208 operated patients with stage I-III lung adenocarcinoma from January 2009 to December 2014. STAS was identified by H&E staining. Expression level of MTA1 was determined by immunohistochemistry. The relationship between MTA1 and STAS was determined by using a logistic regression model. The synergistic effects of MTA1 and STAS on prognosis were analyzed using a Cox proportional hazards regression model. RESULTS:Patients with either STAS or high expression of MTA1 had significantly worse overall survival (OS) and shorter recurrence-free survival (RFS) than those without STAS or with low expression of MTA1 (p < 0.001). Among 107 patients with STAS presence in lung adenocarcinomas, 57 (53.3%) cases had high expression of MTA1. High expression of MTA1 was positively associated with the increased frequency of STAS presence (p < 0.01). Subgroup analysis showed that the patients with both high expression of MTA1 and STAS-positive presence had significantly worst OS and shortest RFS compared with the others (p < 0.001), while the patients with high expression of MTA1 /STAS-negative presence shared similar RFS with those with high expression of MTA1 /STAS-positive presence. Furthermore, high MTA1 levels in STAS-positive patients was associated with a higher risk of postoperative metastasis and recurrence (p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: STAS was more frequently observed in adenocarcinomas with high MTA1 expression levels. MTA1 was associated with a higher risk of worse overall survival among patients with STAS and could provide helpful prognostic information in STAS-positive patients with stage I-III lung adenocarcinoma.