Clinical significance of insulin-like growth factor-1 receptor expression in stage I non-small-cell lung cancer: immunohistochemical analysis

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

<P><B>Background/Aims</B></P><P>The insulin-like growth factor (IGF) system has been implicated in tumor growth, invasion, and metastasis. However, reports on the IGF-1 receptor (IGF-1R) based on radioimmunoassays are conflicting, and its prognostic implications in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) are still controversial.</P><P><B>Methods</B></P><P>Seventy-one paraffin-embedded tissue sections from stage I NSCLC patients were stained using a mouse monoclonal antibody against human IGF-1R.</P><P><B>Results</B></P><P>The intensity and frequency of IGF-1R expression on the membrane and cytoplasm of cancer cells was evaluated and scored using a semiquantitative system. IGF-1R expression was detected in nine of 71 (12.7%) cases. No significant relationship was found between clinical/histopathological parameters and IGF-1R expression. None of the patients whose tumor expressed IGF-1R had experienced distant metastasis or cancer-related death, although the difference did not reach statistical significance.</P><P><B>Conclusions</B></P><P>We conclude that IGF-1R expression may not be a major prognostic factor for stage I NSCLC.</P>