Analysis of the prognostic impact of nestin expression in non-small cell lung cancer

Abstract

Background. Nestin is an intermediary filament protein, expressed in progenitor cells of neural and muscle origin and in activated endothelium. The expression of this protein in tumours can be associated with degree of differentiation, biological potential and/or neoangiogenesis. Aims. The aim of this study was to examine the immunohistochemical expression of nestin in primary non-small cell lung carcinomas (NSCLC) and to determine its prognostic significance. Methods. Immunohistochemical detection of nestin was carried out on tissue microarrays constructed from 114 formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded NSCLC samples. These included 78 squamous cell carcinomas and 37 adenocarcinomas. Expression of nestin was also analysed in 35 primary tumour independent NSCLC brain metastasis. The H-score and degree of nestin positive microvascularisation were determined. Both parameters correlated with the clinicopathological characteristics including disease-free and overall survival. Results. We demonstrated that expression of nestin is not significantly higher in tumour cells of adenocarcinomas than in sqamous cell carcinomas despite the fact that adenocarcinomas were more frequently positive (P≤0.30). On the other hand, nestin positivity and nestin positive neovascularisation were significantly more often found in stage IIIa tumours than tumours in stages I and II (P≤0.04, P≤0.02). Nestin expression was also significantly higher in brain metastases of squamous cell carcinomas than brain metastases of adenocarcinomas (P≤0.003). The expression of nestin, in general, did not significantly correspond to disease-free or overall survival. Conclusion. Nestin expression in NSCLCs is associated with poorer prognosis and with greater nestin-positive microvessel density.

Stem cell markers OCT4 and nestin in laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma and their relation to survivin expression

“…They also reported nestin immunoreactivity in the peritumoral stroma (in 31% of cases), nerve bundles with tumor invasion and peritumoral vessels. Nestin positive neovascularisation has also been identified in non-small cell lung cancer, and correlated significantly with tumor stage [39]. In addition, nestin-positive blood vessels were found to be crucial for maintaining the structure of the glioma stem cell niche [15].…”

“…Although the precise function of nestin remains to be elucidated, studies suggest that it may play a role in the control of cell proliferation, survival and differentiation [36]. Nestin is also a putative marker of CSCs [6,39], and recent studies have demonstrated that it is expressed in epithelial tumors, such as breast cancer [32], gastric cancer [6], and non-small cell lung cancer [39]. To the knowledge of the authors, the expression of nestin in LSCC has not been studied before.…”

Nestin regulates proliferation, migration, invasion and stemness of lung adenocarcinoma

“…Previous studies of these malignant tumors have shown that nestin expression correlates to worse prognosis, and that nestin inhibition suppresses tumor cell migration, invasion, metastasis and stemness (20). Nestin expression has been also reported in lung cancers, with high nestin expression reportedly correlated with poor prognosis (21)(22)(23), lymphovascular invasion (21,24), and stemness (25) in surgically treated NSCLC cases. Nestin inhibition also reportedly reduces cell growth and invasion in SCLC (26).…”

Microvascular proliferation is associated with aggressive tumour features and reduced survival in lung adenocarcinoma

“…In lung cancer, Nestin expression has been studied before, but mainly as a tumour cell marker . In addition, one single study indicated that Nestin positive vessels correlated with a higher tumour stage in NSCLC , although no survival data were presented, and the frequency of proliferating vessels was not assessed.…”