Expression of p63 and CK5/6 in early‐stage lung squamous cell carcinoma is not only an early diagnostic indicator but also correlates with a good prognosis

Abstract

BackgroundNon-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) accounts for 80% of lung cancers, and lung squamous cell carcinoma (SQCC) is one of the main types. Advances in the treatment of lung SQCC are lacking when compared to lung adenocarcinoma. The main treatment for early-stage SQCC is surgery. However, factors affecting the efficacy of surgical treatments for early-stage lung SQCC remain unclear. In this study, we examined the significance of commonly used lung SQCC diagnostic markers p63, p40, and cytokeratin (CK)5/6 in prognosis.MethodsSeventy-six cases of early-stage lung SQCC (N0) were obtained from our lung cancer database (January 2000 to December 2009). Tissue microarray and immunohistochemical (IHC) staining were used to detect the expression of p63, p40, and CK5/6. The effect of the expression level of each marker on patients' survival was examined.ResultsSensitivity and specificity of each marker for detecting lung SQCC was 87.0% and 81.0% for p63, 75.9% and 97.9% for p40, and 78.9% and 97.7% for CK5/6. Survival rates of patients with high expression levels of p63 or CK5/6 or both were higher than in patients with low expression levels (P < 0.05). Expression levels of p40 had no effect on survival (P > 0.05). Multivariate analysis showed that high levels of p63 expression p63+CK5/6 co-expression were independent prognostic factors for good survival.ConclusionIHC staining detection of p63 and CK5/6 in specimens should be routinely performed in postoperative early-stage lung SQCC patients. Its significance lies not only in differential diagnosis, but also in determining prognosis.

Prognostic Implication of Urothelial Stem Cell Markers Differs According to Primary Tumour Location in Non-Muscle-Invasive Bladder Cancer

“…Several assumptions are still controversial in the roles of SC markers in tumorigenesis and predicting prognosis. For example, high expression of P63 has been showed to be correlated significantly with shorter survival in gastric cancer patients [33], while it was correlated with good prognosis in lung squamous cell carcinoma patients [34]. Likewise, integrin α6β4 has been shown to mediate an adhesion-independent tumorsuppressive effect or act as a tumor promoter in squamous cell carcinomas [35].…”

MiR-223-5p works as an oncomiR in vulvar carcinoma byTP63suppression

“…Immunohistochemical expression of p63 was quantitatively obtained based on both the percentage of stained cells (varying from 0 to 100% of cells) and staining intensity (0, 1, 2 or 3), generating a Histologic Score (HScore). Immunoreactivity for p63 was recorded as negative if HScore < 150 and positive when ≥ 150, which has been previously shown to demonstrate more accurate results [76, 77]. …”

High-Throughput Drug Screening Identifies a Potent Wnt Inhibitor that Promotes Airway Basal Stem Cell Homeostasis

“…Previous studies have also identified activation of an autocrine canonical Wnt signaling network in human non-small lung cancers (Akiri et al, 2009), consistent with our studies indicating that high levels of Wnt signaling abolish differentiation to the ciliated cell fate and promote ABSC expansion. Prior work demonstrating the presence of TP63 in human squamous lung tumors (Au et al, 2004;Ma et al, 2015;Wang et al, 2002) is likely, in part, driven by high levels of canonical Wnt signaling. Dysregulated Wnt signaling is likely accompanied by other signaling and genetic perturbations that further facilitate proximal airway remodeling and subsequent ABSC transformation (Haas et al, 2019).…”