Prognostic value of survivin expression in stage III non-small cell lung cancer patients treated with platinum-based therapy.

BACKGROUND: The potential prognostic value of survivin is variably reported depending on the lung cancer stage. This study examines the correlation between tumor survivin expression before and after chemoradiation therapy, therapeutic response, and prognosis in stage III non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients who were treated with platinum-based chemoradiation therapy and surgery.

METHODS: This retrospective study included stage III NSCLC patients with adequate pre- and posttreatment tumor tissues. Tissues were stained using immunohistochemistry, and the degree of staining was scored. Clinical and biological variables were assessed using univariate and multivariate analyses to determine the prognostic relationship with overall survival (OS) and time to recurrence (TTR).

RESULTS: Fifty-three patients were enrolled. Tumor survivin expression in pretreatment tissues was determined in 47 patients (88.7%). The pretreatment survivin score was unrelated with TTR and OS (p = 0.249 and 0.601, respectively). There was no correlation between the pre- and posttreatment survivin scores (p = 0.309). Downregulated survivin and the posttreatment survivin score (0-1) after chemoradiation were significantly correlated with improved OS (p = 0.04 and p = 0.033, respectively). Age, downregulated survivin score, and posttreatment survivin score (0-1) were significant prognostic factors for survival according to the multivariate analysis.

CONCLUSION: Downregulated and low posttreatment survivin scores are prognostic in stage III NSCLC patients who receive platinum-based chemoradiation therapy followed by surgery regardless of the pretreatment survivin score. These results suggest that additional studies on the relationship between survivin and platinum-based chemoradiation therapy are warranted in NSCLC patients.