Objective: To investigate the expression of macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) and extracellular matrix metalloproteinase inducer (CD147) in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and its metastatic lymph node with tissue microarray technique, and to reveal clinical significance of these two molecules expression in NSCLC.
Methods: MIF and CD147 proteins were detected in 40 cases of benign pulmonary tissues, 327 cases of primary NSCLC and 112 cases of lymph node metastatic tissues by SP method of immunohistochemical staining.
Results: The expression of both MIF and CD147 in benign pulmonary tissues, NSCLC primary foci and metastatic lymph node appeared upward tendency (P < 0.05). Furthermore, expression level of MIF and CD147 proteins in NSCLC were related to the metastasis (P < 0.05) and TNM staging (P < 0.05). The Spearman correlation analysis showed that the expression of MIF and CD147 was positively correlated (r = 0.400, P = 0.000). Kaplan-Meier survival analysis indicated that the survival rate was markedly lower in patients with high expression level of MIF or CD147 than those with low expression level (P < 0.05). Multivariate analysis using Cox regression model identified that pathologic grading, metastasis, TNM staging and CD147 expression were independent prognostic factors of NSCLC patients (P < 0.05).
Conclusion: MIF and CD147 may play important roles in invasion and metastasis in NSCLC, so might be employed to evaluate the prognosis of NSCLC patients.