BackgroundBiomarkers may help to improve non‐small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) prognosis. However, the prognostic effect of topoisomerase I (Topo I) on NSCLC is unknown. We evaluated the clinicopathologic and prognostic significance of tumor Topo I and thymidylate synthase (TS) protein expression in postoperative NSCLC patients.MethodsOne hundred and fifteen patients with postoperative NSCLC were enrolled. Topo I and TS protein were detected in removed tumors by immunohistochemistry. The correlations between Topo I/TS protein expression and clinicopathologic characters and outcomes of patients were analyzed.ResultsIncreased expression of Topo I was found in 57 (49.6%) tumors. The largest diameter of the tumor was significantly different between patients with high and low Topo I expression (P = 0.035). TS staining showed that 35 (30.4%) carcinomas were TS positive. The level of TS expression was correlated with tumor differentiation (P = 0.037). Patients with low Topo I expression had significantly longer overall survival (OS) than those with high expression (P = 0.004). The correlation between Topo I expression and OS was demonstrated among patients with squamous cell carcinoma (P = 0.030) and patients in pathological tumor node metastasis stage I (P = 0.027). Topo I expression was positively correlated with TS expression in tumor tissue (R = 0.251, P = 0.007).ConclusionsLow Topo I expression is an independent favorable prognostic factor for longer OS in postoperative NSCLC patients, especially in squamous cell carcinoma. There is a correlation between the expression of TS and Topo I in removed tumor tissue.

The prognostic role of phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN) in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) has been controversial. In this study, levels of PTEN expression were investigated in NSCLC patients and their prognostic value in NSCLC was assessed. PTEN expression in tumor tissues from 68 NSCLC patients was analyzed using immunohistochemistry and confocal microscopy. Survival analysis was performed using the log-rank test and Cox proportional hazards regression analysis. NSCLC patients classified as expressers of high levels of PTEN (n = 46) had better prognoses than those classified as expressers of low levels (mean survival 17.1 vs. 12.9 months, log rank P = 0.038). In patients with adenocarcinoma (AC), high PTEN expression (n = 9) was associated with significantly longer survival than low PTEN expression (mean survival 23.50 vs. 15.54 months, log rank P = 0.043). High levels of PTEN expression resulted in 43 % reduction in risk for all NSCLC patients (HR 0.57, 95 % CI 0.33-0.98, P = 0.041). PTEN expression and clinical stage remained significantly associated with survival after adjustment for age, sex, and tumor type (HR 0.56, 95 % CI 0.32-0.99; P = 0.048; HR 0.54, 95 % CI 0.36-0.97; P = 0.045). No significant difference in continuous PTEN expression levels was observed among groups with different clinical or pathological characteristics (P > 0.17). When levels of PTEN expression were binarized using the optimal cut-point, higher levels of PTEN expression were observed in patients with T1/T2 than in those with T3/T4 (80 and 58 %, respectively, P = 0.049) and in patients with AC than in those with squamous-cell carcinoma (78 and 58 %, respectively, P = 0.08). No significant difference in binarized PTEN expression levels was found among groups with any other clinical/pathologic characteristic (P > 0.28). Our results suggest that high levels of PTEN expression may be favorable prognostic markers in NSCLC patients.

The objective of this research was to study the pharmacology of Dioscorea bulbifera L. on antioxidant and anticancer activity. Alcohol extracts of Dioscorea bulbifera L. were made out by different concentration alcohol; they were tested by Hydroxyl radical scavenging test, reducing capacity test and total antioxidant capacity test. In the anticancer test, MTT test was used to study the inhibition rate. The results told that 70% ethanol extracts could scavenge most DPPH· at 2mg/ml. The rate was 55.2%; 80% ethanol extract could clear the most ·OH. The clearance rate was 51.2%. 80% ethanol crude extracts possessed the strongest reducing ability per gram of the extract equal to 49.3μmol Fe 2 + . Different concentrations of the extracts could inhibit the proliferation of line SGC-7901, and with the concentration increased, the inhibition rate was gradually increased.