A favourable prognostic marker for EGFR mutant non-small cell lung cancer: immunohistochemical analysis of MUC5B.

Abstract

To determine the use of the mucin proteins MUC5B and MUC5AC as prognosis markers for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) carrying epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutations. Patients who underwent surgical resection at Nagasaki University Hospital and related facilities in Japan between June 1996 and March 2013. 159 Japanese patients (male: n=103; female: n=56) with NSCLC, who underwent surgical resection (EGFR-mutant type: n=78, EGFR wild type: n=81). Patients whose tumours expressed MUC5B had significantly longer overall survival and relapse-free survival compared to the MUC5B-negative patients with EGFR mutant NSCLC (p=0.0098 and p=0.0187, respectively). In patients with EGFR wild-type NSCLC, there was no association with MUC5B expression. MUC5AC expression was not different between EGFR mutant and wild-type NSCLC. Present findings indicate that MUC5B, but not MUC5AC, is a novel prognostic biomarker for patients with NSCLC carrying EGFR mutations but not for patients with NSCLC carrying wild-type EGFR.