Change of CMTM7 expression, a potential tumor suppressor, is associated with poor clinical outcome in human non-small cell lung cancer

• DOI: 10.3760/cma.j.issn.0366-6999.20123625
• Publication Date: 2024-01-16T18:05:34Z
• Authors: Qiang LIU; Yu SU; Guan-chao JIANG; Zu-li ZHOU; Bao-cai LIU; Liang BU; Fan YANG; Fang QIAO; Jun WANG
• Keywords: Adult; Aged, 80 and over; Male; Lung Neoplasms; MARVEL Domain-Containing Proteins; Tumor Suppressor Proteins; Middle Aged; Prognosis; Tissue Array Analysis; Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung; Humans; Female; Chemokines; Aged; Proportional Hazards Models

Background CKLF-like MARVEL transmembrane domain-containing 7 (CMTM7) located at 3p22.3, is a frequent deletion site and a tumor suppressor gene (TSG) locus in many cancer, which suggests CMTM7 may be a potential TSG. The aim of this study was to investigate the correlations of CMTM7 expression and survival rate in patients with non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Methods Surgical specimens of 180 cases with pathologically confirmed NSCLC were grouped into 18 tissue microarray slides. CMTM7 expression in these specimens were detected by immunohistochemistry staining and representative cases were confirmed by Western blotting. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to identify the association of CMTM7 expression with pathological features and survival of patients with NSCLC.

Results A total of 78.9% of the 180 patients had variations of CMTM7 protein expression, either up-regulated or down-regulated. Univariate analysis showed that the patients' survival rate after surgery was highly correlated with CMTM7 expression (P=0.0091). In addition, prognostic factors were examined by multivariate Cox regression analysis, and results suggested that CMTM7 expression was a unique prognostic factor in NSCLC survival.

Conclusions The CMTM7 expression may be related to survival of patients with NSCLC and a unique prognostic factor. CMTM7 may play an important role in NSCLC development.