The clinical and prognostic significance of YWHAZ in non-small-cell lung cancer patients: Immunohistochemical analysis.

YWHAZ has been suggested to as an oncogene in various human malignancies, including non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Our study presents more evidence to confirm the clinical significance and biological function of YWHAZ in NSCLC. In our results, YWHAZ was upregulated in lung squamous cell carcinoma tissues and lung adenocarcinoma tissues through analyzing The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database, and confirmed high levels of YWHAZ messenger RNA and protein in lung squamous cell carcinoma tissues and lung adenocarcinoma tissues through quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction and immunohistochemistry. Moreover, YWHAZ overexpression was correlated with advanced clinical stage, more lymph node metastasis and present distant metastasis in NSCLC patients. Survival analysis indicated that high level of YWHAZ protein expression was associated with short overall survival time in NSCLC patients, and YWHAZ expression was independent prognostic factors for overall survival in NSCLC patients. Moreover, Silencing of YWHAZ expression represses NSCLC cell migration and invasion. In conclusion, YWHAZ is a credible prognostic biomarker, and may be a therapeutic target in NSCLC.