Correlation of E-cadherin and Vimentin Expression with Prognosis of Non-small-cell Lung Cancer and Sensitivity to Platinum-based Chemotherapy

OBJECTIVE To investigate the correlations among E-cadherin and vimentin expression, epithelialmesenchymal transition factors, prognosis for non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), and the sensitivity to platinum-based chemotherapy. METHODS Medical record data and pathological tissue specimens of NSCLC patients treated by platinum-based chemotherapy from January 2008 to December 2012 were collected retrospectively. Immunohistochemistry was performed to detect E-cadherin and vimentin expression and evaluate their correlation with clinical characteristics. Kaplan-Meier survival curve and Cox proportional hazards regression model were used to evaluate the correlation of E-cadherin and vimentin expression with prognosis of NSCLC and sensitivity to platinum-based chemotherapy. RESULTS A total of 99 NSCLC patients were enrolled in this study. A significant negative correlation was found between E-cadherin and vimentin expression in tumor tissues (P<0.001, r=-0.410). For lung cancer tissues with less differentiation and lymph node metastasis in middle and late stages, the positive rate of E-cadherin decreased, whereas the positive rate of vimentin increased. The OS of patients showing positive expression of E-cadherin was significantly higher than that of patients showing negative expression of E-cahedrin (median OS 31 vs 21 months, HR 0.533, 95%CI:0.322-0.882, P=0.014). However, vimentin was not correlated with OS. Moreover, E-cadherin and vimentin expression was not significantly correlated with disease progression(P>0.05). CONCLUSION E-cadherin can be used as a potential NSCLC prognostic factor but not as a predictive factor for the sensitivity of NSCLC platinum-based chemotherapy. Overall, the results need further investigation.