Exploratory study on the correlation between 14 lung cancer-related gene expression and specific clinical characteristics of NSCLC patients

Personalized medicine has become essential in the treatment of lung cancer. However, the lung cancer-related gene expression profiles in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients have not been elucidated. In this study, the correlation between gene expression profiles and clinicopathological characteristics was investigated in NSCLC patients. A total of 95 patients were enrolled in this study. The mRNA expression levels of 14 genes were assessed by multiplex branched DNA liquidchip (MBL) technology and data on 9 clinicopathological characteristics of patients were collected simultaneously. The correlation between gene expression and clinicopathological characteristics was investigated. Out of the 9 clinicopathological parameters, 6 were associated with several of the 14 genes analyzed. Patient gender was associated with TYMS and TOP2A . Clinical stage was associated with VEGFR2 , KIT and HER2 . There was weak correlation between primary tumor size of ≤3 cm and the expression level of KIT . The mRNA expression levels of VEGFR2 and HER2 correlated with distant metastasis. BRCA1 , TYMS , TOP2A and HER2 were associated with histological type. Smoking correlated with higher expression levels of BRCA1 , TYMS and TOP2A and lower expression levels of PDGFRβ . The results were suggestive of correlation between the clinicopathological parameters of the NSCLC patients and the mRNA expression levels of certain lung cancer-related genes, including BRCA1 , TYMS , TOP2A , PDGFRβ , VEGFR2 , KIT and HER2 .