Abstract:
Objective:To investigate the expression of Stathmin protein and chemoresistance to taxane in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Methods:Seventy-five patients with stageⅣNSCLC treated with taxane between October 2003 and October 2007 were enrolled in the study and the tumor samples were retrospec-tively analyzed. The expression of Stathmin protein in the tumor samples was detected by immunohistochem -istry. Data regarding the effects of taxane treatment and survival time were collected and analyzed. Results: The positive staining rate of Stathmin ( ≥50% cells were stained) was 80.00% (60/75). The positive staining rate of Stathmin was 81.63% in male patients, 76.92% in female patients (P=0.627 ), 71.79% in pulmonary squamous cell carcinoma, 88.89% in pulmonary adenocarcinoma (P=0.064 ), 78.95% in patients over 58 years old, and 81.08% in patients of 58 years or younger ( P=0.817 ). The response rate (CR + PR) was 34.67%. Patients with Stathmin overexpression (>50% cells were stained) had a lower response rate to tax-ane of 28.33% (17/60) and a higher progression rate of 21.67% (13/60) after taxane treatment. Patients with Stathmin underexpression (< 50% cells were stained) had a higher response rate of60.00% (9/15) and a low-er progression rate of 0 (0/15) (P=0.021 and P=0.047 , respectively). Overexpression of Stathmin protein was correlated with shorter median overall survival (12.0 months) and progression-free survival (8.0 months). Low expression of Stathmin protein was correlated with longer median overall survival ( 17.0 months) and progres-sion-free survival (13.0 months) (P=0.008 and P=0.008 , respectively). Patient characteristics including age, gender, and histological subtype were not correlated with median overall survival or progression-free survival (P>0.05). Conclusion:Overexpression of Stathmin is associated with resistance to taxane and poor prognosis of NSCLC patients treated with taxane-based chemotherapy.