Evaluation of lobar lymph node metastasis in non-small cell lung carcinoma using modified total lesion glycolysis

Bioinformatics Analysis Reveals Centromere Protein K Can Serve as Potential Prognostic Biomarker and Therapeutic Target for Non-small Cell Lung Cancer

Background:

Non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) accounts for 80% of all lung cancer cases, which have been a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Previous studies demonstrated that centromere proteins were dysregulated and involved in regulating the tumorigenesis and development of human cancers. However, the roles of centromere protein family members in NSCLC remained to be further elucidated.

Objective:

The present study aimed to explore the roles of centromere protein family members in NSCLC.

Method:

GEPIA (http://gepia.cancer-pku.cn/) was used to analyze the target’s expression between normal and human cancers. We explored the prognostic value of centromere proteins in NSCLC using the Kaplan–Meier plotter (http://kmplot.com). The protein-protein interaction among centromere proteins were determined using GeneMANIA (http://www.genemania.org). TISIDB (http://cis.hku.hk/TISIDB) database was used to detect the relationship between centromere proteins expression and clinical stages, lymphocytes, immunomodulators and chemokines in NSCLC. The DAVID database (https://david.ncifcrf.gov) was used to detect potential roles of CENPK using its co-expressing genes

Results:

The present study for the first time showed that centromere protein family members including CENPA, CENPF, CENPH, CENPI, CENPK, CENPM, CENPN, CENPO, CENPQ, CENPU were dysregulated and correlated to the poor prognosis of patients with LUAD. CENPK showed the greatest correlation with the prognosis of patients with NSCLC. We found that CENPK was significantly highly expressed in LUAD samples and overexpression of CENPK was remarkably correlated to the shorter OS and DFS on patients with different stage NSCLC. Of note, this study for the first time showed that CENPK was significantly correlated to the lymphocytes and immunomodulators using the TISIDB database

Conclusion:

In summary, CENPK can serve as a novel biomarker for the diagnosis of patients with NSCLC.

Selection of Pathological N0 (pN0) in Clinical IA (cIA) Lung Adenocarcinoma by Imaging Findings of the Main Tumor

OBJECTIVES

We would like to clarify the imaging findings of the main tumor that may omit the requirement for lymph node dissection in clinical IA (cIA) lung adenocarcinoma.

METHODS

A total of 336 patients with cIA lung adenocarcinomas with normal preoperative carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) who underwent surgical resection were analyzed. We investigated the association between various computed tomography (CT) imaging findings or the maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax) of fluorodeoxyglucose-position emission tomography (FDG-PET) and lymph node metastasis. The maximum tumor diameter was calculated from the CT images using both the lung window setting (LD) and mediastinal window setting (MD). The diameter of the solid component (CD) was defined as consolidation diameter in lung window setting. The solid component ratio (C/T) was defined as CD/LD.

RESULTS

SUVmax, MD, and C/T were independent factors related to lymph node metastasis, but CD was not (p = 0.38). The conditions required for the positive predictive value (PPV) to reach 100% were 10.6 mm for MD, 12.5 mm for CD, and 0.55 for C/T. SUVmax did not reach 100%.

CONCLUSIONS

In cIA lung adenocarcinoma with CEA in the normal range, we found that it may be possible for lymph node dissection to be omitted by MD, CD, and C/T.