Analysis of the prognostic impact of nestin expression in non-small cell lung cancer

Nestin-Expressing Cells in the Lung: The Bad and the Good Parts

Nestin is a member of the intermediate filament family, which is expressed in a variety of stem or progenitor cells as well as in several types of malignancies. Nestin might be involved in tissue homeostasis or repair, but its expression has also been associated with processes that lead to a poor prognosis in various types of cancer. In this article, we review the literature related to the effect of nestin expression in the lung. According to most of the reports in the literature, nestin expression in lung cancer leads to an aggressive phenotype and resistance to chemotherapy as well as radiation treatments due to the upregulation of phenomena such as cell proliferation, angiogenesis, and metastasis. Furthermore, nestin may be involved in the pathogenesis of some non-cancer-related lung diseases. On the other hand, evidence also indicates that nestin-positive cells may have a role in lung homeostasis and be capable of generating various types of lung tissues. More research is necessary to establish the true value of nestin expression as a prognostic factor and therapeutic target in lung cancer in addition to its usefulness in therapeutic approaches for pulmonary diseases.

Emerging Role of Nestin as an Angiogenesis and Cancer Stem Cell Marker in Epithelial Ovarian Cancer: Immunohistochemical Study

Ovarian cancer is the most fatal gynecologic malignancy and the existing second-line treatments have not been confirmed to be effective. Cancer stem cells research has a leading role to explore promising therapeutic applications. Nestin was postulated to reflect cancer stem cell properties in various tumors, correlating with poor prognosis. Furthermore, nestin is proposed as a reliable neovascularization marker. This study aimed to elucidate the status of nestin expression in various epithelial ovarian cancers (EOCs), its neoangiogenic properties, and investigate its potential association with clinicopathologic parameters. A total of 80 primary EOCs (37 serous, 20 Mucinous, 13 endometrioid, and 10 clear cell carcinomas) were immunohistochemically stained with nestin. Staining intensity and automated microvascular density (MVD) were assessed. Positive nestin expression was defined in ≈47.5% of all EOC; more commonly in ≈60% of the serous tumors. It was noticeably expressed in tumor spheroids. Nestin expression significantly correlated with overall tumor grade, lymph node, distant metastasis, and stage. Nestin neoangiogenesis was detectable in all cases (average=60.1). The nestin expression in tumor cells significantly correlated with Nestin/MVD. The average Nestin/MVD was significantly an independent predictor of high tumor stage. As a stem cell marker, nestin is expressed in cells of EOC including those growing as spherules and correlated with poor prognosis. Thus, nestin may be a novel therapeutic target for tumor angiogenesis and a combination therapy that includes nestin-targeting agents may be an effective therapeutic approach. In addition, detection of Nestin/stem cells and Nestin/MVD can be used as predictors of disease.

Association of SOX2 and Nestin DNA amplification and protein expression with clinical features and overall survival in non-small cell lung cancer: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Up to now, the prognosis of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is poor. With progress of cancer biology, a number of genes have been investigated for predicting prognosis of NSCLC, such as cancer stem cell markers SRY (sex determining region Y)-box 2 (SOX2) and Nestin. Recently, a series of studies have been performed to examine the associations of SOX2 and Nestin with clinical parameters and prognosis in NSCLC, however, the results were not consistent. In the present study, we conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to summarize the associations. Four English databases (PubMed, ISI web of science, Embase, and Ovid) were used to search the relevant studies with the last date of November 10, 2015. The pooling analyses were stratified by DNA amplification and protein expression. The pooling ORs or HRs were used to assess the strength of the associations. Finally, we included 19 articles for SOX2 and six articles for Nestin according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria. The pooling analyses revealed that there were significant associations between SOX2 DNA amplification and clinical features of NSCLC, gender, smoking status, squamous cell cancer (SCC) histology, and differentiations. And significant associations were also identified between SOX2 protein expression and clinical parameters, smoking status and SCC histology. For Nestin, its protein expression was correlated with lymph node metastasis and stage. Simultaneously, we found that high/positive SOX2 alterations, either DNA amplification or protein expression, were favorable for overall survival (OS) in NSCLC. On the contrary, high/positive Nestin protein expression was poor for OS.

Microvascular proliferation is associated with aggressive tumour features and reduced survival in lung adenocarcinoma

Despite new treatment options in lung cancer, there is still a need for better biomarkers to assist in therapy decisions. Angiogenesis has been associated with tumour growth and dissemination, and the vascular proliferation index (VPI) is a valuable prognostic marker in other tumours. Nestin, a marker of immature endothelium, was previously applied in combination with Ki67 for proliferating endothelium as a novel marker (Nestin‐Ki67) of ongoing angiogenesis. Here, the prevalence and prognostic impact of vascular proliferation on lung cancer‐specific survival (LCSS) in lung adenocarcinomas was studied. Selected tumour slides from a cohort of 210 patients treated surgically for adenocarcinoma at Haukeland University Hospital (Norway) from 1993 to 2010 were stained for Nestin‐Ki67. VPI, the ratio between the density of proliferating vessels and the overall microvessel density were used, and the cut‐off value was set at 4.4% (upper quartile). High VPI was associated with the presence of blood vessel invasion (p = 0.007) and tumour necrosis (p = 0.007). Further, high VPI was significantly associated with reduced LCSS (p = 0.020). By multivariate analysis, VPI remained an independent prognostic factor for reduced LCSS (HR 1.7; 95% CI 1.04–2.68; p = 0.033) when adjusted for other prognostic clinico‐pathological features. In conclusion, microvessel proliferation assessed using the VPI was associated with aggressive tumour features such as blood vessel invasion and tumour necrosis and, independently, decreased LCSS. This marker should be further explored in separate cohorts, and in trials of anti‐angiogenesis therapy.

Clinicopathological and prognostic significance of Nestin expression in patients with non-small cell lung cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Latest evidence indicates that Nestin expression may be associated with the high malignancy and poor prognosis of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), but a relevant consensus has not been reached until now. Therefore, we conducted this meta-analysis to evaluate the clinicopathological and prognostic significance of Nestin expression in patients with NSCLC. We searched PubMed, EMBASE and the Web of Science for eligible full-text articles. Odds ratio (OR) and hazard ratio (HR) with 95 % confidence interval (95 % CI) severed as the summarized statistics. Q-test and I ²-statistic were applied to evaluate the heterogeneity, and sensitivity analysis was conducted for adjustments. Publication bias was detected by Begg's test and Egger's test. Finally, eight eligible articles with 834 NSCLC cases were included. Nestin expression was found to be significantly associated with the unfavorable outcomes of differentiation degree (OR: 2.47; 95 % CI 1.61-3.79; P < 0.001), lymphatic metastasis (OR: 2.45; 95 % CI 1.41-4.25; P = 0.001), TNM stage (OR: 1.73; 95 % CI 1.07-2.79; P = 0.025) and tumor size (OR: 2.68; 95 % CI 1.20-5.98; P = 0.016), but not associated with gender, age, smoking status and NSCLC subtypes. Nestin expression could significantly predict the lower overall survival of NSCLC (HR: 2.41; 95 % CI 1.72-3.38; P < 0.001). The prognostic value of Nestin remained statistically reliable in the subgroups stratified by statistical analysis, patients' origins and follow-up periods, but not significant in patients with squamous cell carcinoma. In conclusion, Nestin expression may be an independent predictor for the poor prognosis and clinicopathological characteristics of NSCLC. Further studies are necessary to validate our discoveries.

Nestin regulates proliferation, migration, invasion and stemness of lung adenocarcinoma

Lung cancer is the most common cancer and the most common cause of cancer-related death in the world. Nestin, a class VI intermediate filament, is known to be a cancer stem cell (CSC) marker as well as a neuroepithelial stem cell marker. High expression levels of nestin are reported in several types of cancers including lung, pancreatic and prostate cancers. Nestin is thought to regulate tumor cell proliferation, migration, invasion and CSC properties. Here, we confirmed nestin expression in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC): Immunohistochemical analysis in surgical specimens detected nestin protein expression in the cytoplasm of 20 of 48 adenocarcinoma (AD) cases (41.7%) and 25 of 47 squamous cell carcinoma cases (53.2%). Nestin immunoreactivity significantly correlated with not only tumor size and lymph node metastasis in NSCLC, but also poor survival in surgical patients with AD. High and moderate expression levels of nestin were confirmed in several lung AD cell lines including H1975 and PC-3. Nestin inhibition by shRNA decreased proliferation, migration, invasion and sphere formation in AD cells. Correspondingly, nestin upregulation by nestin gene transfection resulted in the opposite changes. Moreover, Akt inhibitor IV effectively decreased nestin expression via SRY-box containing protein 2 (Sox2) downregulation and overcame the enhanced sphere formation induced by nestin upregulation. Overall, our results show that nestin correlates with the aggressiveness and stemness of AD. Regulation of nestin via Akt/Sox2 is, thus, a promising candidate for novel therapeutic approaches to eradicate CSCs in lung AD.

Evaluation of nestin in lung adenocarcinoma: relation to VEGF and Bcl-2

CONTEXT

Nestin is a marker of multipotent precursor cells that is up regulated in cancer.

OBJECTIVE

To explore its diagnostic role and its relationship to vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and Bcl-2 in lung adenocarcinoma.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Evaluation of nestin expression in lung biopsies by real-time PCR and serum VEGF and Bcl-2 by ELISA in 27 adenocarcinoma patients and 15 control subjects.

RESULTS

Nestin was significantly higher in lung adenocarcinoma patients especially with advanced grade and stage and it was significantly correlated to VEGF and Bcl-2.

CONCLUSION

Nestin can be considered as a potential diagnostic marker in lung adenocarcinoma.

[Advances in diagnosis and treatment of brain metastases from the primary lung cancer]

肺癌脑转移的发生率为23%-65%，是脑转移性肿瘤中最常见的类型，且预后较差。目前肺癌脑转移的诊治和分子机理已成为众多研究的热点之一。本文就肺癌脑转移的临床特征、诊断和治疗方面的进展以及最新脑转移的机制学研究做了系统的综述。