Fc Receptor Expression as a Prognostic Factor in Patients With Non-small-cell Lung Cancer

Abstract

Background/Aim: The neonatal Fc receptor (FcRn) is a major histocompatibility class I-like molecule responsible for the transfer of passive humoral immunity from a mother to her newborn. Recent research revealed that FcRn is involved in antigen-presentation, humoral immunity and antitumor immunity of various types of cancer, such as lung, colon and breast. Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related death and non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) accounts for 85% of all lung cancer. NSCLC is a highly heterogeneous disease and this affects the prognosis. Therefore, many studies have tried to identify factors that are associated with prognosis. The lungs are a major organ expressing FcRn. We aimed to evaluate FcRn expression in surgical specimens of NSCLC and determine its correlation with patient prognosis. Materials and Methods: We analyzed 140 NSCLC surgical specimens for FcRn expression using immunohistochemistry and correlated positivity with clinicopathology and survival of these patients. A chi-squared test and Kaplan–Meier analysis with log-rank tests were performed for statistical evaluation. Results: The FcRn-positive group had a significantly higher disease-free survival and a tendency towards increased disease-specific survival in patients with tumor-node-metastasis stage I NSCLC. Conclusion: Our study supports the hypothesis that FcRn down-regulation is associated with NSCLC progression.